The petitioners have claimed that after the election results were made public, the head of the election committee informed them that another round of elections was necessary as they did not have a majority. The petitioners then changed the process and made a unilateral decision.
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Three presidential candidates have demanded a rerun of the first district convention of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSWP) in Lamjung.
Three presidential candidates have filed a petition with the Central Election Commission demanding the cancellation of the post of declared district president Ashok Sapkota and a rerun. They have alleged that the district president was declared against the party statute, election procedures and democratic process.
Five candidates had filed their candidacies for the post of president in the convention held on Jestha 24. In a situation where no candidate could secure 50 percent of the votes, a rerun election had to be held between the two candidates who received the most votes. After Bholanath Sharma, who received the second most votes, withdrew from the election, Sapkota, who received the first most votes, was declared elected as the president.
The announcement was against the party statute, election procedures and democratic process, and presidential candidates Bir Bahadur Dhital, Vijayaranjan Poudel and Nawaraj Pahadi jointly filed a petition with the Central Election Commission on Thursday demanding a rerun. They have also demanded the cancellation of the post of declared president Sapkota. The petition states that Article 33, Clause 1(b) of the party statute 2079 (with the third amendment) and Section 16(a) of the District Convention Election Procedure-2083 stipulate that more than 50 percent of the total votes must be received to be elected as the district president. They allege that if no candidate fails to receive the required number of votes, a re-election must be held between the two candidates who receive the most votes, and the president was declared without an election. In the election, Sapkota, who was declared president, received only 69 votes out of a total of 174 votes cast. The petition also raises questions about the role of Krishna Kumari Adhikari (Anisha), the joint general secretary and election committee coordinator of Gandaki Province, saying that a person who received about 39.65 percent of the total votes was declared president.
After the election results were made public, the petitioners claimed that the head of the election committee had informed them that another round of elections was necessary as they did not have a majority, and then changed the process and made a unilateral decision. 'After the election results were announced, it was informed that there would be another round of voting because no one had been able to secure 50 percent of the votes for the president.' The petition states that after most of the representatives had returned home and without the consent and participation of other candidates, Ashok Sapkota was declared the district president and even administered the oath,' the petition states.
In the petition, they have demanded that the decision to declare Sapkota the district president be immediately revoked, his reinstatement be revoked, and a new voting process be held by setting a date for re-election as per the party statute. They have also urged the Central Election Commission to conduct a fair investigation and implement the decision in accordance with the statute.
The petition has been sent to the party's central general secretary, Kavindra Burlakoti, who is also the head of the Bikag organization, the central disciplinary commission, the Gandaki province president, the provincial disciplinary commission and the provincial general secretary. Bholanath Sharma, who did not participate in the second phase of the election, had earlier said that he had taken this decision to unite the party. After the petitions of the three candidates were made public, he has made public his response that he has decided to put the unity, objectives and future of the organization above personal aspirations. Sapkota has not made any response public about this. Instead, he has made it public that the first meeting of the newly elected committee was held on Wednesday.
