The ordinance passed by the Council of Ministers meeting on Sunday is ready to be sent to the President's Office on Wednesday. The ordinance will come into effect after it is issued by President Ramchandra Paudel and published in the gazette.
Even after the announcement of the election, an ordinance will be issued to make a legal arrangement for the collection of voter lists. The ordinance passed by the Council of Ministers meeting on Sunday is ready to be sent to the President's Office on Wednesday. The ordinance will come into effect after it is issued by President Ramchandra Paudel and published in the gazette.
According to Home Minister Omprakash Aryal, the Ministry of Home Affairs prepared a draft of the ordinance in consultation with the Election Commission to amend Section 4 of the Voters' Roll Act, 2073. It was taken to the Cabinet and passed. "The current ordinance is going to change only one section of the Act," said Home Minister Aryal.
In sub-section 2 (2) of section 4 of the Voter's Roll Act, 2073, it is said that 'names shall not be registered in the voter's roll for the purposes of that election after the election date has been announced'. Based on the recommendation made by Prime Minister Sushila Karki on 27 August, President Ramchandra Poudel dissolved the House of Representatives and announced the date of election on 21 February.
After the announcement of the election, the ordinance is about to be brought after it is seen that the youth (Gen-G) who brought change through the movement will be deprived of voting rights. After becoming the home minister on 30 August, Aryal said that the government would give one chance to those who were eligible to register their names in the electoral roll and those who missed it. Minister Aryal said that he will start the process of giving voting rights to Nepalis living abroad. A study team has been formed for that. In the
ordinance, sub-section 2 (2) of Section 4 of the Voter List Compilation Act has been amended and a provision has been made that 'the voter list can be collected within the period specified by the Election Commission'. The Election Commission will fix a certain day for the collection of voter list based on the ordinance. After that, eligible youth and all those who missed out before will be able to register their name in the list.
After collecting the list, the commission is ready to make the schedule of the election and move forward with the election activities. The practice of the commission is to keep the election period for 120 days. This time too, we will proceed accordingly after collecting the voter list,'' said Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai.
Commission's discussion with Prime Minister-Minister
Election Commission officials have discussed with Prime Minister Sushila Karki and ministers about the preparations for the elections. Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari discussed matters such as law amendments, election management and resource mobilization necessary for holding the House of Representatives elections on February 21. Prime Minister Karki, Finance Minister Rameshwar Khanal, Home Minister Omprakash Aryal, Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anil Kumar Sinha participated in the
discussion. After the commission said that the budget, manpower, law and order should be discussed, the discussion was held at the office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers at Singha Durbar. "As the first priority of the current government is to prepare for the elections, there has been a discussion regarding its preparation and if there are any obstacles, they should be identified and addressed," Law Minister Sinha said. In the
discussion, Finance Minister Khanal said that the government will arrange the necessary budget to complete the election, but the election should be frugal. Prime Minister Karki asked the commission to confidently start all preparations and submit a blueprint for financial and manpower issues as it is the job of this government to hold elections.
Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai informed that preliminary discussions have been held to coordinate effectively for the elections. "Continuous discussions will be held with the Home Minister, the Prime Minister, etc. on upcoming challenges," he said, "The Commission is committed to conducting clean, fair, free and economical elections."
The commission has been asking the government to ensure necessary resources, including amendments to the Voters' Roll Act, 2073, to complete the House of Representatives elections at the appointed time.
