At a meeting with Chairman of the interim election government Khil Raj Regmi, Home Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire and Law Minister Hari Prasad Neupane Singha Durbar on Sunday, EC officials said the constitutional body cannot take policy-level decisions in the absence of the chief election commissioner and commissioners.[break]
“We made it clear that there must be a full-fledged EC to carry out preparations for the polls,” said EC Spokesperson Anil Kumar Thakur.
In response, Regmi assured the EC official that chief election commissioner and commissioners will be appointed at the earliest.
“We instructed the EC officials to move ahead with preparations that can be made for the time being even in the absence of chief election commissioner and commissioners,” Ghimire told Republica.
EC has also demanded Rs 7 billion to conduct CA polls. “The budget will cover all expenses, including publication of ballot papers and allowances for 200,000 officials to be deployed for polls,” Thakur stated.
According to EC officials, chairman Regmi and ministers of the interim election government enquired about preparations made by the constitutional body for fresh polls.
EC officials informed them about the status of voter registration, voter education, and amendment to certain laws as per the order of the president to remove difficulties. Thakur said EC has been registering voters in 26 districts and would begin the campaign in other 45 districts within a couple of days. The EC has completed registration of 11 million voters so far.
Thakur said EC will start publishing ballot papers after nomination for candidates for the election. “The ballot papers will be published within 25 days if 55/56 political parties decide to contest the polls, while it would take about 33 days if the number of parties go up,” Thakur maintained.
The interim election government, which is entrusted with the responsibility of holding fresh polls, held the meeting with the EC officials three days after formation.
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