Kathmandu, July 21

More than 24 hours after forming the Constituency Delimitation Commission, the government has yet to contact its office bearers.

The chairperson and the members of the CDC have not received appointment letters and can officially commence their work only after they take oath of office and secrecy.

The government had formed a five-member CDC under former justice of the Supreme Court Kamal Narayan Das yesterday.

Das told THT that he had not received any call from the government authorities until this evening. He, however, contacted three other members of the CDC and told them to have an informal meeting tomorrow. “I have been trying to contact the fourth CDC member Madhav Adhikari but have not been able to get his cell number,” he said. This scribe provided   Adhikari’s cell number to Das after he asked for the same.

Das said he wanted to have informal meeting with members of the CDC as soon as possible so that they could prepare working procedures before the swearing-in ceremony.

Das said he learnt from media that the CDC would have to prepare its report on constituency delineation within 21 days. He added that it would be challenging to prepare the report within the time frame.

“CDC is the most powerful constitutional commission, as its report cannot be challenged in any court; neither the government nor the Parliament can amend or revise the CDC report,” Das said and added that CDC-delineated constituencies would remain for 20 years as per constitutional provisions.

“We’ll have to take into consideration population and geography and there are other things also that we’ll have to keep in mind while preparing our report,” Das added.

CDC member Bishwo Kalayan Parajuli said he came to Kathmandu from Pokhara this evening after CDC chair called him.

Another CDC member, Madhav Adhikari, said the CDC would try to give its report on time. “If we fail to give our report on time, provincial and parliamentary elections will be delayed,” Adhikari, who had served in the Balananda Paudel-led Local Bodies Restructuring Commission, said.

He said submitting the report on time would depend on provision of logistics, human resources and data to the

newly formed CDC. Adhikari said the CDC could use the digital data prepared by the former LBRC to delineate electoral districts.

Constitutional obligation

• Article 286 (5): While determining election constituencies pursuant to this article, the Election Constituency Delimitation Commission shall make population and geography the basis of representation
• Article 286 (6): While delineating election constituencies pursuant to clause (5), due consideration should be given to the density of population, geographical specificity, administrative and transportation convenience, and community and cultural aspects of the constituencies