KATHMANDU, AUGUST 28
The Election Commission has proposed the None of the Above (NOTA) and suffrage right for citizens living abroad. It has also advanced fixing the date of the election in the law itself for the transparency of the elections.
Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, speaking on the draft of the Integrated Election Management Law Bill in Kathmandu today, said that NOTA should be incorporated, and the presidential to the local level elections should not be based on decision but be regulated by law.
The commission has made preparations to include the option of not voting for any candidate, or NOTA, in the ballot paper from the next term. It has been proposed that if more than half of the total votes are cast under NOTA, the election will be annulled, and the participating candidates will not be able to contest again.
"This is totally a leap forward, we have never incorporated such a system before. As it's going to be new for all of us, it seems difficult to convince them of something new. However, if it is feasible, more initiatives should be taken in this regard," said Chief Commissioner Thapaliya.
"The system of setting the election date by the government affects the independence and autonomy of the commission, hence, we have proposed the law to arrange it in the law itself."
The commission has also proposed that the election of the president and vice-president be held three days before the end of their term of office in the 'Bill to Amend and Consolidate the Laws Related to Elections'.
Similarly, it has also proposed holding the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections on the first Sunday after four years and eleven months of the announcement of the last election results. Likewise, the local level elections should be arranged in ways similar to the HoR and the Provincial Assembly elections.
However, in the case of members of the National Assembly, the commission has proposed holding the election on the first Sunday before the end of the tenure.
The commission has also put forth the facility to the voters who are posted outside their constituencies to cast their votes a day before the election.
Similarly, with the help of Nepali embassies abroad, the commission has also proposed a system to allow Nepalis in the same country to exercise their suffrage proportionally.
Chief Commissioner Thapaliya reiterated that candidates who are defeated in the polls, from the local level up to the National Assembly, will not be able to contest for any level during the tenure of that post. There is a proposal in the bill that candidates who do not provide details of election expenses will not be allowed to contest for six years.
On the other hand, the commission has also set the quota for being elected proportionally. It is stated in the draft of the bill, "A person who has been elected twice through the proportional election system cannot be a candidate in the election held according to the same system."
The commission on 3 July 2023 submitted the integrated election law bill at the Ministry of Home Affairs after a review of various elections and suggestions received. The bill will be presented in the Parliament only after the government approves it after taking the opinions and suggestions of the concerned agencies. However, no progress has been made regarding this.
Meanwhile, stating that there would be broad transformation in the election law when the bill is passed, former secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Madhav Paudel said the political parties should abide by moral values when it comes to elections.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 29, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
