KATHMANDU, AUGUST 4
The government today decided to hold parliamentary and provincial elections in single phase on November 20.
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki told mediapersons that the decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting today.
Asked when the tenure of the House of Representatives would end, Karki said the government believed that the tenure of the HoR and provincial assemblies would end on the day candidates file their nominations. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had yesterday discussed the poll date with top leaders of the ruling alliance who suggested that polls should be held on November 20.
Elections will be held under firstpast-the-post and proportional representation systems.
There are 165 parliamentary FPTP constituencies and 330 provincial electoral districts. Voters will also elect additional 110 parliamentarians and 220 provincial lawmakers under proportional representation system.
The Election Commission expects to spend Rs 10 billion for the polls.
Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya said at a press conference that the EC expected 18,500,000 to 18,600,000 voters for the upcoming polls.
The EC will stop registering voters from tomorrow.
Responding to a journalist's query, Thapaliya said that his office had told the government that as per the constitution and prevailing laws, the tenure of the HoR and provincial assemblies would end on November 21. Rules stipulate that the tenure of an elected body begins on the day representatives are elected, Thapaliya said.
Thapaliya said since the EC was committed to creating level playing field for all candidates, the tenure of existing lawmakers would end the day they file their nomination papers. He said the EC would publish its calendar of events soon.
Candidates are most likely to file nominations immediately after Dashain vacation, he added.
He said the poll panel would conduct elections in a free, fair, and peaceful manner. Registration of political parties for the upcoming polls is likely to begin on Sunday.
Thapaliya said the EC would also ensure voting rights for prisoners, detainees, and security personnel and employees deployed on poll duty as per the order of the Supreme Court.
Spokesperson for the EC Shaligram Sharma Paudel said the EC would soon call on international observers to take part in the observation of the poll process.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 5, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
