Nepal president appoints Election Commissioners

KATHMANDU: Amid friction from some political parties, Nepal’s President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav on Sunday appointed Chief Election Commissioner and four election commissioners.

The appointments were made by the President as recommended by the Constitutional Council. However most the new commissioners are not new have already served full term prior to this.

The President appointed Neelkantha Upreti as Chief Election Commissionr and Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, Ayodhi Prasad Yadav, Ram Bhakta Prasad Bishwakarma Thakur and Ila Sharma as election commissioners.

Upreti, Gurung and Yadav had retired from the Election Commissioner.

A press release from the President’s office informed that the newly appointed officials will take on oath of office and secrecy at 4.30 pm today at the President’s office.

Even though some dissenting political parties and some legal experts had challenged the notion of reappointing retired EC officials, the CC meet on Saturday had sustained its decision stating that the decision complied with existing constitutional provisions.

Along with the recommendation, the CC had also dispatched clarification of the re-appointments to the President on Sunday that ultimately paved way to appoint the CC members.