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The silence period for the House of Representatives elections to be held on 21 Falgun is starting from midnight today. During the silence period, no one can campaign for or against anyone or ask for votes.
That is why political parties and their candidates are busy with election rallies and campaigns even before 12 o'clock. The silence period starts at 12 o'clock midnight and is in effect until the voting is completed.
The Election Commission is implementing the silence period in accordance with the election code of conduct. Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said that the Election Commission is monitoring violations of the election code of conduct for 24 hours.
Why is the silence period being implemented?
It is an international practice to start the silence period 48 hours before the voting so that there are no disputes or clashes between competitors and no unpleasant incidents terrorize voters.
There is a practice of arranging a silent period to conduct elections in a peaceful environment and to create a fair competitive environment among candidates. The Election Commission expects that all campaign activities will be quiet during the silent period, which will create a voting environment and voters will vote enthusiastically.
If the silent period is not arranged and campaigning is allowed even before the day of voting, the Election Commission has stated that this practice is being followed because there is a risk that candidates and political parties will influence voters and the election environment will be affected.
After the silent period begins, the office of the Returning Officer asks the concerned party or candidate to remove the campaign materials placed within 300 meters of the polling station. ‘The campaign materials of the party or candidate should be removed, and no vote should be sought or election campaign should be carried out by any method, process or means,’ the Commission has said.
What can and cannot be done?
Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari informed that during the silence period, no discussion, interaction, meeting, conference, workshop, seminar, etc. will be allowed. According to him, no campaigning or soliciting votes for or against anyone is allowed through social media.
During the silence period, no political party officials, candidates, party fraternal organizations, and other individuals, organizations or bodies that must follow the code of conduct will be allowed to conduct election campaigning or other activities.
Similarly, no vote soliciting or election campaigning should be done through any method, process or means, and no message, information or propaganda material should be posted or shared or caused to be posted in favor of or against a political party or candidate through social media, online, print or any other means.
Provisions have been made in Section 17 of the code of conduct targeting the silence period. The commission has said that political party officials or candidates and party fraternal organizations or related persons must observe good conduct from forty-eight hours before the polling day until the polling station closes on the day of polling.
It has been said that no discussion, interaction, meeting, conference, workshop, etc., including election campaigning, will be allowed, and that the propaganda materials of political parties or candidates placed within 300 meters of the polling station must be removed forty-eight hours before the polling day. Similarly, it has been said that no one should solicit votes or campaign for the election through any method, process or means, and no one should post or share or cause to be posted or respond to any message, information or propaganda material in favor or against a political party or candidate through social media, online, print or any other means.
What will be the action?
Section 48 of the code of conduct provides for action. Sub-section 1 of which states that ‘If anyone violates this code of conduct, the Commission may impose a fine of up to one hundred thousand rupees or cancel the candidacy in accordance with Section 23 of the Election Commission Act, 2073 BS’.
Sub-section 3 states that ‘a political party or candidate shall not receive any financial assistance or spend any money or cause any money to be spent on any activity or activity in the election campaign, and the Commission may impose a fine of an amount equal to the income or expenditure incurred in such manner in accordance with Sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 30 of the Election (Offences and Punishments) Act, 2073 BS.
The Commission may declare a candidate who fails to pay such fine within 6 months as a candidate for a maximum period of 6 years with immediate effect.
