The Election Commission (EC) has told the government it will need 30 days to hold election for National Assembly after announcement of the date of election.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ayodhi Prasad Yadav said so while meeting Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at his residence in Baluwatar along with all the EC commissioners Friday afternoon.
CEC Yadav told Setopati that it will take 30 days after announcement of the election date to complete the election process from filing of nomnations to voting. "We have told the government that it will be easier if the date were announced early. We have said we will hold election in 30 days," Yadav added.
"We have said it will take 30 days for completion of voting not results. Let's see what happens," he stated.
The EC has also urged the government to appoint provincial chiefs before announcement of the election date. "The electoral college will not be completed before the members of provincial assembly take oath of office," he said.
A total of 1,506 chiefs and deputy chiefs of 753 local bodies, and 550 provincial assembly members from seven provinces will be voters for the National Assembly election.
"Election date must be announced after appointing provincial chiefs. All these issues are inter-connected. We also drew the attention of government to that."
Yadav said PM Deuba assured that he will appoint provincial chiefs soon.
The EC said it has yet to decide whether to print ballots or use electronic voting system for election of National Assembly. "We must also conduct voters' education program about the Single Transferable Vote system," an EC commissioner said. "It will take 30 days to complete all that," the commissioner said.
The EC has also yet to decide whether to hold the election in each province or to call all the voters to a single place for election. But it is preparing to hold it in all the seven provinces.
Formation of the new government has been pushed back further after this revelation by EC that it will take 30 days to hold election after announcement of election date.
The EC will need another two weeks after the completion of National Assembly finalize the members to be elected to the House of Representatives (HoR) through proportional representation (PR) system.
