The government has not been able to take a decision even five days after the Election Commission proposed date for local elections. If the second election is held on the proposed date, there are only 103 days left. The government, which has been trying to postpone the local elections, is delaying the date.

After discussing with the government, the commission had proposed the date of May 18 to hold local elections. The commission has proposed to hold one-time elections at 753 levels. Similarly, the Commission has also sent its opinion through the Ministry of Home Affairs for decision in the Council of Ministers.

The commission has stated that there is no need to amend the law to hold the election on May 18. “After the government agreed to hold the election on the date we have proposed, the prime minister has urged us to start preparations,” said Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Thapaliya.

A meeting of the Central Security Committee (CSC) on Wednesday directed all the four security agencies to submit a detailed action plan on security and arrangements with the aim of holding local elections in one phase. A committee has been formed under the coordination of Mukunda Niraula, Chief of Security and Coordination Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate for that.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the election date would be fixed soon as per the agreement reached between the government and the coalition parties.Karki said,”There is no question of the government avoiding announcing the date.” The commission has proposed to do it in stages.

The commission claims that in one phase, management will be easier, voter education materials will be uniform, campaigning expenses will be reduced, monitoring and supervision will be easier, and the result of one place will not affect the election of another place. The commission has stated that if the election is held in two or more phases, the ballot boxes of the local level election held in the first phase will be kept safe till the second phase election is completed. The commission has informed the government that due to the need to deploy more security personnel, it is not possible to keep enough security personnel for the second phase of the election and the expenses will increase due to additional facilities for security personnel and staff.

“As the first phase of the election draws to a close, counting on votes will affect the outcome of the second phase, raising questions about the cleanliness, credibility and fairness of the election,” the commission said in a consultation with the government.