Govt declares elections on Nov 19; passes election ordinance
The government has announced the Constituent Assembly elections on November 19. A marathon cabinet meeting Thursday evening fixed the election date.
The government also endorsed the draft of the election ordinance, deciding to forward it to the President for approval, communication minister and government spokesperson Madhav Poudel told said after the cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, the government formed a five-member Election Constituency Delimitation Commission headed by former Supreme Court justice Tahir Ali Ansari. Geologist Netra Dhital, sociologist Dambar Chemjong, public administration expert Madhu Nidhi Tiwari and secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister Raju Man Singh Malla are members of the commission, which is given 30-day deadline to come up with a recommendation.
According to minister Poudel, 240 constituencies for first-past-the-post elections will remain intact.
The cabinet took key election-related decisions after hours of debate. The government had started homework after the high-level political committee of the four parties asked it to finalise the election ordinance after failing to resolve the differences.
* http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2013/jun/jun13/news22.php
Poll date announcement without consensus will invite conflict: Gajurel
CPN-Maoist vice chairman CP Gajurel on Thursday said that to announce the election date without consensus between the parties is to invite fresh round of conflict.
“Fixing the election date despite the objection of the [agitating] parties will produce bad consequences,” he warned while speaking at the Reporters Club, “We will not accept forced elections.”
Gajurel also accused the four major parties of dancing to the tunes of India and that the Southern neighbour is pressuring them to go for elections by the end of November.
The Maoist leader also claimed that the current government will not be able to conduct the polls and that it should step down for the polls to happen.
* http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2013/jun/jun13/news13.php