KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 5

The Election Commission today issued a press release opposing the government's move to determine the end of the tenure of the current House of Representatives and provincial assemblies till the first meeting of the House after November 20 elections.

The poll panel's statement came a day after the House of Representatives witnessed a heated debate between the ruling and opposition parties over the provisions of Bill to Amend Some Nepal Acts where the government has proposed to determine the end of the current five-year term of the HoR and PAs on the first meeting of the House after the November 20 elections.

The EC said the tenure of the HoR and PA starts the day the candidates contesting HoR seats or PA seats are declared victorious.

In accordance with Section 61 of the House of Representatives Election Act and Provincial Assembly Election Act, the day a candidate contesting the HoR or the PA election is declared the winner marks the beginning of the fiveyear term of the House, the EC said. 'Since all candidates are not declared winners simultaneously, we have to determine the tenure from the day the first candidate is given the victory certificate.'

The EC said it had recommended that the government should hold parliamentary and provincial assembly elections on November 20 keeping in mind the results of the general elections held five years ago. 'A bill proposing to determine the tenure of the HoR and PA ignoring suggestions of the EC cannot be termed appropriate,' the EC stated in its release.

The EC quoted articles 91 and 182 of the constitution which stipulate that terms of House speaker and speakers of provincial assemblies will end a day before the filing of nomination papers for parliamentary and provincial elections.

The EC also cited proviso of Article 296 of the constitution to argue that although the tenure of the Legislature Parliament was till 21 January 2018, the term, however, ended a day before the filing of the nomination papers for HoR elections.

Articles 91 and 182 of the constitution stipulate that the tenure of the HoR speaker and Provincial Assembly speaker ends a day before nomination papers are filed for parliamentary and provincial elections. 'If the speaker has his/her tenure only till the day nomination papers are filed, how can other HoR members argue that they should have their tenure beyond that?' the EC wondered. The EC said an attempt to start a new practice against an established practice was thus not appropriate.

The EC said it had enforced poll code of conduct incorporating provisions whereby any sitting member of the HoR, PAs or local governments who filed candidacy for HoR or PA elections would be deemed to have been relieved of their post after filing their nomination for election.

It said the proposed bill would adversely impact enforcement of the election code of conduct and could also raise questions on the fairness of election. The EC said the government should have consulted it before proposing to amend HoR and PA election laws.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 6, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.