KATHMANDU, JANUARY 27
The Election Commission has sought clarification from heavyweight candidates, including senior Rastriya Swatantra Party leader Balendra (Balen) Shah, CPN-UML Secretary Mahesh Basnet, Shram Sanskriti Party Chair Harka Sampang and Kamal Bhusal alias Dr Nicholas Bhusal.
The code of conduct for the March 5 general election went into effect at midnight on January 18. Shah is contesting from Jhapa Constituency-5, Basnet from Bhaktapur Constituency-2, Sampang from Sunsari Constituency-1 and Bhusal from Rupandehi Constituency-2.
The commission has sought clarification from them on a number of issues, including violations of the election code of conduct. Previously, a complaint was filed with the commission regarding Shah's comments about CPN-UML President KP Sharma Oli. Oli is running for the Jhapa Constituency-5 seat as well.
A complaint was filed with the Election Commission, alleging that Shah made hateful, misleading and defamatory statements, flouting the election code of conduct, existing laws and the democratic election process.
The complaint alleges that Shah's social media comments about transparent, intellectual and fact-based public debate proposed by CPN-UML Chair Oli violated the spirit of democratic debate. It has been claimed that senior RSP leader Shah's words 'murderer of 76 children, terrorist' are serious, criminal and baseless allegations made in the absence of evidence or a court decision.
A complaint has also been filed against CPN-UML Secretary Basnet over his remarks. He is accused of distorting some of Shah's words during his Janakpur speech on January 19. CPN-UML Secretary Basnet has been accused of making hateful remarks about the Madhesi community. In his speech, Shah used the term 'Madhesiya Chhaura'.
Netizens accused Basnet of purposefully misinterpreting the word, which led to criticism. Furthermore, Gen Z activists, including advocates Anil Kumar Sah and Yuvraj Mukhiya, have filed a complaint with the EC, demanding that Basnet's candidature be withdrawn.
They claim Basnet violated the election code of conduct by making inflammatory remarks about the Madhesi community. According to a complaint filed with the EC, Basnet used linguistic racism to spread hate speech against Madhesi culture. Sampang, chair of the Shram Sanskriti Party, has also been asked by the commission to provide an explanation.
He has been asked to explain the use of children in the election, as well as why one was made to wear a T-shirt promoting Sampang. The commission has also sought an explanation from Bhusal (Nicholas), who is contesting the HoR election as an independent candidate.
The commission has requested an explanation for the election symbol issue, citing the discovery that Bhusal campaigned with two election symbols. He campaigned with the 'iconic shoe election symbol' of the Gen Z movement.
The Election Commission has stated that an investigation will be conducted into all of these matters and that appropriate action will be taken. Similarly, Pathak has been asked for an explanation for making hateful comments about candidates and using terms like 'murderer' and 'rapist'.
The commission has also sought clarification from Koshi Province Chief Minister Hikmat Karki, former communications minister Jagdish Kharel, who has filed a candidature on behalf of the RSP, and Shakti Bahadur Basnet of the Nepal Communist Party, among others. While some of them have already submitted clarifications, several others have yet to do so, according to the EC. Additionally, the commission has declared that any unlawful activity will be dealt with in accordance with Election Offences and Punishment Act, which is mentioned in the code of conduct.
"If anyone violates the code of conduct, the commission may impose a fine of up to Rs 100,000 or cancel the candidature in accordance with Section 23 of the Election Commission Act, 2017," the code of conduct reads.
"There shall be no impediment to taking action under the Election (Offences and Punishments) Act, 2017, in the case of an act that is considered an election offence under the prevailing law, notwithstanding anything contained in Sub-section (1)."
The code of conduct states that a political party or candidate shall not receive any financial support or incur any expenditure for any activity prohibited by the election code of conduct during the election campaign, and the commission may impose a fine of an amount equal to the income or expenditure incurred in such an activity on a political party or candidate who engages in such activity pursuant to subsections (1) and (2) of Section 30 of the Election (Offences and Punishments) Act, 2017.
"The commission may declare a candidate who fails to pay such a fine within six months disqualified from contesting any election for a maximum of six years with immediate effect."