KATHMANDU, JANUARY 25
The Election Commission has urged the government to announce the date for local polls immediately.
The EC's reminder comes at a time when the ruling alliance leaders are trying to delay local polls, arguing that as per Article 225, local polls could be delayed by six months.
The tenure of the current local governments will end on May 5.
Issuing a press release today, the EC reminded the government of its earlier meeting with the EC when the poll panel had suggested that local polls should be held in a single phase on April 27 or in two phases on April 27 and May 5. The EC said that it had been preparing to hold local polls before mid-May. It said delay in announcing the local poll dates would only complicate poll management.
Earlier, the poll panel had said that in the run-up to local polls, it would have to carry out 53 activities for which it would need a preparation time of 120 days.
The EC said that although local polls were held in three phases last time, there was a provision for counting the tenure from the date of the first phase elections.
Earlier, the Election Commision said that the constitution and the laws did not envisage any vacuum in local levels and if local polls were not held in time, service delivery could be adversely affected.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 26, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
