Ruling parties themselves against proposal to shelve district election offices

KATHMANDU: The ruling parties themselves have expressed objections to the government’s proposal to merge election offices in all 77 districts with the respective district administration offices.

In the budget for the fiscal year 2023/24, presented in parliament on May 29, the government proposed the elimination of district election offices, suggesting the establishment of a division to oversee election matters under the district administration offices.

Expressing their objection to this provision, the Election Commission organized an all-party meeting at its office in Kathmandu on Friday.

The ruling coalition partners, including the Nepali Congress (NC), CPN (Maoist Center), and Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), have opposed this decision. Maoist Centre leader Mukti Pradhan stated in a media briefing following the all-party meeting that his party finds the proposal to maintain an election unit under the district administration office unacceptable. He insisted that such a provision is not in line with the existing law.

Similarly, JSP leader Prakash Adhikari mentioned that his party is not in favor of scrapping the district offices of the Election Commission. He added, “If there is blatant interference in the activities of the Election Commission, fair voting cannot be ensured.”

The NC also opposes the idea of eliminating district election offices. NC Joint General Secretary Jeevan Pariyar stated, “Regardless of which political party is in power, elections should be conducted freely and fairly as soon as they are called. The Election Commission should remain autonomous. This is the norm and spirit of democracy.” Pariyar emphasized, “On behalf of the party, I have expressed that district election offices should not be merged with the district administration office.”