Kathmandu, April 3

Student unions are divided over age bar for contenders of Free Students Union election, which has not been held since 2009.

After a series of talks, FSU election was scheduled to be held last year but was postponed due to dispute over admission of students at the time of election.

The election is unlikely to be held this year also, if student unions do not resolve their differences soon enough.

The TU senate had decided to allow students to contest in the FSU election without setting the age bar for a year. It has also decided to set the age limit of 28 years for contenders in the FSU election to be held after April 14, 2015. Since the FSU election could not be held within the deadline set by the TU, unions are still divided over the issue of age bar.

The university had earlier asked the student unions to sort out their differences and create an environment for election.

UP Lamichhane, spokesperson for the Nepali Congress-aligned Nepal Student Union, said they have asked all other student unions not to follow the age bar for this time. “We want no age bar for the contenders of FSU poll for this time,” he said, adding, “We are going to sit with other student unions soon to discuss the issue.”

Meanwhile, Ramesh Malla, president, All Nepal National Independent Students Union-Revolutionary, said his organisation wanted no change in the decision taken earlier.

“Earlier, we had decided to set age bar for contenders in FSU election from April 14, 2015. So we should follow the decision on age bar and other provisions.” He said if the student unions started amending bylaws, the FSU election was unlikely to be held this year as well.

At the same time, some student unions are also demanding change in the electoral system.