Inability of the fringe parties to solicit votes under one election symbol will only add to the campaign cost
Just two months to go for the local polls, and the fringe parties have threatened to thwart them if they cannot have their way with the election symbols.
The fringe parties have been asserting that they be allowed to contest the local elections with the poll symbol of their choice rather than the one reserved for independent candidates by the Election Commission (EC). However, there are legal hurdles to conceding to the demand of the fringe parties. Under the Political Parties Act-2017, only those parties that cross the electoral threshold during the parliamentary election are recognised as national parties. As such, only they are entitled to contest the local election with the symbol of their choice under the Local Level Election Act. Candidates of those parties that were unable to meet the electoral, or election threshold, are thus treated as independent candidates. The EC is unable ignore the legal provision and provide all parties the same treatment as national parties as its decision could be challenged in the court.
Regardless of what the laws say, the demand of the fringe parties does sound rational. Treating their candidates as independents would have contenders from the same party holding different election symbols even within a municipality or rural municipality.
So unlike the national parties, the fringe parties will not be able to solicit votes under one election symbol, which adds to the campaign cost. There have been calls in the past to do away with the concept of national parties and treat all parties equally once they register themselves with the EC. Taraibased Janamat Party-Nepal has even demanded holding the local polls on a non-party basis as in India if the EC cannot give each of the parties an election symbol. If the EC does not address the concerns of the fringe parties, they have threatened to not only boycott the local polls but also prevent the EC from holding the polls.
The EC must try to find a solution to the problem at the earliest within the existing legal framework as promised so that the fringe parties can start their election campaigning in earnest. Keeping the issue lingering might force the fringe parties to think on the lines of boycotting the polls. The CPN (Revolutionary-Maoist), led by Mohan Baidhya, has already announced that it would boycott the polls. And there are parties, even in the ruling coalition, that want a postponement of the local elections until a favourable environment can be built for them. It would also be prudent for the EC to revise the cap it has placed on the amount that a candidate can spend while contesting for the post of mayor and deputy mayor of a municipality or chief or deputy-chief of the rural municipalities. The people definitely welcome any move by the EC to keep the election expenses of the candidates low and modest, as extravagant spending leads to criminalisation of politics and policy-level corruption once the parties or candidates are in power.
But both the EC and the government must have the political will to take action against any candidate who opposes the policy. Unfortunately, we have seen nothing of that kind till now, making a mockery of the EC's code of conduct.
Enforce the law
Although the Senior Citizens Act was enacted in 2006 with a provision of providing at least 50 per cent discount on the public transport fare and health care services, the Act has not been fully implemented due to the government's poor monitoring and apathetic attitude of the concerned persons. As per the rule, the public vehicle operators need to keep aside two seats in their vehicles for the senior citizens, and they are also entitled to a 50 per cent discount in the government's designated healthcare facilities. But most of the public healthcare facilities do not provide such facility to the senior citizens.
More than 8 per cent of the country's total population makes up the elderly. They need special protection and social security for their survival. Although the state has been providing a monthly social security allowance to the people aged 70 and above as well as to widows above 60 years of age, this is not enough to ensure the rights that they deserve as per the constitution.
Retirement life becomes particularly problematic if the family members themselves do not take care of their elderly parents. Even the well-educated members of the family dump their elderly parents either in the old-age homes or simply ignore them for no reason.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 16, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.