Kathmandu, October 13
Preparations are underway to hold the National Assembly election on Magh 11. National Assembly Chairperson Narayan Prasad Dahal held discussions with Election Commission officials last Friday, during which the commissioners informed him that preparations were being made to conduct the election on that date.
Prime Minister Sushila Karki also held talks with Election Commission officials on October 7 at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar. The meeting was attended by Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari and Commissioners Dr. Janakidevi Tuladhar and Sagun Shamsher Jabara.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Karki and Chairperson Dahal met to discuss the preparations for the upcoming National Assembly election. During the meeting, Dahal briefed the Prime Minister about his earlier discussions with the Election Commission.
“Two days ago, I met with the election commissioners. We held discussions, and they said the election will be held on Magh 11. They have already included it in their schedule and will move ahead in coordination with the government,” Dahal told the Prime Minister.
The tenure of 19 National Assembly members will expire on Falgun 20. As per legal provisions, the election must be completed 35 days before the end of their term, compelling the Election Commission to conduct it within the second week of Magh.
According to Chairperson Dahal, Prime Minister Karki is positive about holding the election on time and has shown interest in ensuring participation from the Gen Z group. However, under the current arrangement, voters in the National Assembly election are local government chiefs and deputy chiefs as well as provincial assembly members meaning Gen Z voters are not included. Dahal suggested that discussions could be held with political parties regarding the voter composition.
“She (the Prime Minister) was positive about holding the election,” Dahal said. “We also talked about including Gen Z, as it’s an important and timely issue.”
Dahal added that since the voters are local government officials and provincial assembly members, further political consultations would be necessary. “I suggested reaching a political consensus for that. The government must coordinate with the political parties because the voter base itself cannot be changed,” he said.
He further noted that there are no major challenges or security concerns regarding the election. “Since it will be held across the seven provinces, there should be no problem in proceeding,” Dahal stated.
The terms of 19 members will expire on Falgun 20, elections will be held for 18 of those seats, while the term of one nominated member, Bamdev Gautam, is also set to expire. Once his term ends, the President will nominate another member.
Prime Minister Karki and Chairperson Dahal discussed holding elections for the 18 seats that will fall vacant. Among those leaving office are eight members from CPN-UML, seven from the Maoist Centre, one from the Unified Socialist, one from the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal, one from the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, and one nominated member.
The outgoing UML members include Indira Devi Gautam, Gopal Bhattarai, Tulsakumari Dahal, Devendra Dahal, Bhagwati Nyaupane, Bimala Ghimire, Sharda Devi Bhatt, and Sumitra BC.
The seven outgoing members from the Maoist Centre are Gopibahadur Sarki Achhami, Gangakumari Belbase, Jagprasad Sharma, Taraman Swar, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Mayaprasad Sharma, and Radheshyam Paswan.
The tenure of Unified Socialist’s Beduram Bhusal, Janata Samajbadi’s Mrigendrakumar Singh Yadav, and Loktantrik Samajbadi’s Shekharkumar Singh will also end in Falgun.
