Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari has informed the government that, due to lack of time, it will not be possible to arrange voting rights for Nepalis living abroad or inter-constituency voting.
During a meeting on Sunday with the chief advisor to Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki, Bhandari said that there is not enough time and no likelihood of securing political consensus for such arrangements.
Prime Minister Karki’s chief advisor, Ajaya Bhadra Khanal, had visited the Election Commission on Sunday to meet Acting Chief Election Commissioner Bhandari.
A senior official from the Election Commission said that the meeting discussed voting from abroad and inter-constituency voting.
Advisor Khanal, speaking to Setopati, confirmed that he had met the acting chief election commissioner, but claimed that no other matters were discussed.
“It was a courtesy meeting,” Khanal said. “There was no agenda.”
However, the Election Commission official said that the meeting took place in the context of the government preparing to issue an ordinance to allow Nepalis living abroad to vote.
“We have learned that the acting chief commissioner clearly stated that it is not possible to manage voting for Nepalis abroad,” the official said. “He told the prime minister’s chief advisor that issuing an ordinance that cannot be implemented would create problems.”
On Sunday, the Ministry of Law sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs a draft ordinance aimed at resolving legal complications related to voting arrangements for Nepalis abroad. The Home Ministry is preparing to take the ordinance to the Cabinet.
The Election Commission, however, has said that the ordinance would increase pressure on the commission and create challenges for its implementation.
“Once the election date is announced and party registration is completed, there should not be debates on the electoral system. Moreover, systemic changes should not be made at all,” the official said.
According to Home Ministry sources, the proposed ordinance – which includes provisions for voting from abroad and inter-constituency voting – states that the government will make decisions in coordination with the Election Commission.
