KATHMANDU, MARCH 14
Fringe parties have threatened to boycott upcoming local polls if the Election Commission fails to address their concerns about election symbols.
General Secretary of the Rastriya Rajarata Party Dhawal Shumsher Rana, who is also the mayor of Nepalgunj Municipality, said his party would boycott upcoming local polls if it did not get plow as its election symbol.
He told THT that the Election Commission must address fringe parties' concerns about election symbols.
"We will not only boycott local polls, but will also not let the EC hold polls," Rana said. He added that EC office bearers had assured them of finding a solution.
"We are not saying that we should be treated as a national party, but all our candidates should be allowed to choose plow as their election symbol," Rana added.
EC Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Paudel said the EC could not grant the same election symbol to all candidates of fringe parties that did not meet the voting threshold.
Section 52 of the Political Party Act-2017 stipulates that only a party that wins at least one first-past-the-post constituency election and at least three per cent proportionate election votes during parliamentary election can get recognition of a national party.
Paudel said that as per Section 26 (7) of Local Level Election Act, parties that did not cross vote threshold would get election symbols meant for independent candidates.
"The EC has taken a serious note of the concerns expressed by fringe parties and is exploring ways to address their concerns under existing legal framework,"
Paudel said. He added that if the EC ignored the legal provision and provided election symbols to fringe parties on par with national parties, that could be easily challenged in the court.
Treating fringe parties' candidates as independent candidates means that they will not get the same election symbol even in one municipality or rural municipality. This means that they cannot solicit votes in favour of one election symbol as national parties can do for their candidates.
General Secretary of Janamat Party-Nepal Chandan Singh said his party wanted the EC to give all parties one election symbol or hold local polls on non-party basis as in India.
"All parties should be treated equally in a democracy. The EC grants election symbol to all parties when they register themselves with the EC. It is wrong on the part of EC to say now that fringe parties cannot be treated as national parties," Singh argued.
He said national parties had been trying to deprive fringe parties of election symbols.
Meanwhile, Mohan Baidyaled CPN (Revolutionary Maoist) today issued a press release saying it would boycott the upcoming local polls.
It claimed there was no possibility of free and fair polls. Accusing the government and parties in the House of Representatives of acting against the interests of the country in Millennium Challenge Corporation compact ratification process, the ultra-left party said it would use the next two months as a campaign to expose wrong deeds of the government and other political p arties.
The party said its revolutionary image could be saved by boycotting the polls.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 15, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
