Kathmandu — Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari has said Nepal should hold local level and provincial assembly elections simultaneously to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Speaking at a program to distribute certificates to proportional representation members of the House of Representatives, Bhandari said conducting both elections at the same time would make the electoral process more effective and easier to manage.
He said local level elections must be held within the next 13 to 14 months, while provincial assembly elections are scheduled for Mangsir 2084. Holding both elections on the same date would make the process more cost-efficient and streamlined, he added.
However, Bhandari said the current legal framework does not allow joint elections. He said nearly a dozen existing election-related laws need to be consolidated into a single election management act.
He said the Election Commission prepared a draft of the law and submitted it to the government more than two years ago. The bill is currently under consideration at the Ministry of Home Affairs, and he urged Parliament to discuss and pass it as soon as possible.
Bhandari said legal frameworks must be in place at least one year before an election. Without timely laws, it is not possible to prepare essential mechanisms such as codes of conduct and operational guidelines.
He warned that if the election management bill is not passed in the upcoming parliamentary session, the 2084 elections may again be conducted under the existing system.
