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Dissident Bibeksheel faction demands voting rights for migrant workers

Bibeksheel Nepali leaders submit a memorandum to Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, demanding voting rights for Nepali migrant workers, in Kathmandu, on Thursday, August 6, 2021. Photo: Courtesy Ashish Rai

Kathmandu, August 6

Members of the Bibeksheel Nepali, who refused to merge with the Sajha Party to become the Bibeksheel Sajha Party in December last year, have demanded that the government make provisions to ensure Nepali migrant workers staying in various places of the world get their voting rights.

Three leaders of the party–Karma Lama Tamang, Ashish Rai and Bijaya Babu Shiwakoti–met Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya on Thursday and demanded the commission prepare for letting migrant workers vote in the next elections.

They argue a Supreme Court order some years ago has already told the government to ensure migrant workers’ voting rights whereas the provision is already possible thanks to modern technologies.

However, the government’s and the commission’s preparation for the same has not been satisfactory so far, according to Rai.

The party has been carrying out #YesNoteNoVote? campaign for the past five years to pressurise the government to let migrant workers vote.

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