KATHMANDU: As many as 68 fringe parties including the Baburam Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti Party Nepal on Friday announced that they would foil programmes carried out in the run-up to the local level elections, protesting the law that granted party-wise election symbols to the parties represented in the Parliament only.

The parties said they would obstruct the programmes of voters' education to be carried out by the Election Commission at the local level and other programmes related to election monitoring and observation to be carried out by the government and NGOs.

The parties organised a press meet at the NSPN Central Office in Babarmahal of Kathmandu today and said they would launch various protest programmes against the law which they said was against the basic norms and values of democracy.

Other protest programmes include staging a relay hunger strike at the Shanti Batika of Ratna Park from April 15 to 21.

Likewise, they would picket the Prime Minister's residence and the Parliament building.

Of late, the parties have been protesting the Local Level Elections Act, which forbids parties outside the Parliament to get party-wise symbols for the upcoming polls.