HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Govt advises EC to hold polls in multiple phases

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Sept. 4: The government has advised the Election Commission (EC) to hold the polls in five or seven phases so that more people can take part in the forthcoming general elections, Minister of State for Home Devendra Raj Kandel said today.

The number of polling booths will increase by more than 59 per cent for the democratic exercise slated for November 13, considering the security situation, he added after a meeting of five major parties at the EC office today.

The parties today, however, demanded that the EC hold the election in not more than two phases, at only a week's interval.

At the meeting, the EC had solicited suggestions from all the parties regarding the number of polling centres, number of election phases and implementation of the code of conduct.

A similar all-party meet held at the district level had suggested the EC to set up 10,858 polling centres.

According to Kandel, the gap between each of the election phases will be 15 days in view of the country's difficult topography. "The government can mobilise the army to ensure there is peace and security," he said.

The EC has not yet decided on the number of polling centres, election phases and the interval between the phasewise elections.

The CPN-UML even suggested that the gap between the phases should not exceed more than five days, said Basu Shakya.

The meeting flatly refused to discuss the EC's proposal about the possibility of holding the local elections together with the general elections. The government did not extend the term of the representatives of the local bodies in mid-July. Since then, government representatives have been manning the local bodies.

Arjun Nursingh K.C. of the Nepali Congress led by Girija Prasad Koirala said that the country lacked the atmosphere to hold free and fair polls, but hailed the ongoing preparations being made by the EC.

"We also drew the EC's attention to immediately decide on which of the NC factions is legitimate," KC added. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba leads the other faction of the NC.

On the state of emergency, Kandel hinted that the government would reimpose the state of emergency as the terrorist activities are mounting after the expiry of the emergency. "But the government will lift it during the elections."

"The emergency will be reimposed in only terrorist-affected areas. But the government has yet to decide on it," he said.

Meanwhile, RSS adds that Chief Election Commissioner Achyut Narayan Rajbhandari, shedding light on the preparations being made for the elections, said works are being carried out to review the voters list by including eligible voters who reached 18 by April 13, initiate works for the left out voters in the 13 electoral constituencies where the voter identity card system has been enforced, bring essential supplies for the election and reform the election directory on basis of experiences of the past.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajbhandari and commissioners Ramesh Jung Thapa and Bishwa Man Shrestha were present during the discussions.

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