HETAUDA, APRIL 16
Chief Election Officer Ram Prasad Bhandari has said anyone found breaching the election code of conduct will be subject to strong action.
Speaking at a media orientation in Hetauda today, Chief Election Officer Bhandari took exception to the tendency among some political leaders to spread rumours against the Election Commission and went on to warn that breach of election code of conduct wouldn't be tolerated.
"Even newspaper reports about election code breach could be a basis for action against the candidate or party in question," Bhandari said, also stressing the need for the press to monitor the compliance with standard codes.
"As the people trust the media most, the media by the same token has additional role in elections. Besides, the citizens have also their own responsibility to ensure successful completion of elections," he said, informing that most of the election-related preparations had finished.
The chief commissioner also underscored the need for timely election, saying the country would otherwise be pushed years back.
Press Council Nepal member Chiranjivi Maske and members of Federation of Nepali Journalists also spoke on the occasion of the need to stop fake information and hate speech during election.
Other journalists who spoke accused the Election Commission of failing to take action against political parties and candidates even for glaring breach of election code and asked it to be more vigilant this time.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 17, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
