KATHMANDU: The Election Commission has urged the government and the political parties to remain steadfast on the second phase of local elections scheduled for June 28.

The EC officials made this suggestion during the discussions held with leaders including Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN Maoist Centre chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the Prime Minister's Office in Singha Durbar today.

Following the discussions, Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav said that the government expressed its commitment to extend support and cooperation in the context of the Election Commission pursuing its all works focusing on the June 28 election.

"The Election Commission has urged for moving ahead committed for the June 28 election," he added. Stating that one or the other difficulties might occur while carrying out any election, the Chief Election Commissioner reiterated that there was no confusion regarding the election as the Ministry of Home Affairs has guaranteed full security for the election.

CEC Yadav said, "We are moving forward regarding the filing of nomination papers tomorrow for the June 28 polls, with the determination to fulfilling the election responsibility while relying on the means and resources and the guarantee of security provided by the government for election purpose."

On the occasion, the Election Commission officials had informed the government and parties' leaders on all aspects of the preparations being made for the election, and to this, the government and the ruling partners had thanked the commission.

Nepali Congress senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel, general secretary Shashanka Koirala and leaders Bimalendra Nidhi and Krishna Prasad Sitaula, and CPN Maoist Centre leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Pampha Bhusal, Matrika Yadav and Home Minister Janardan Sharma participated in the discussions.

Election Commissioners Ila Sharma, Narendra Dahal, Ishwar Poudel and Sudhir Shah and EC secretary Gopinath Mainali were also present in the meeting.