Govt decides to hold provincial, House of Representatives elections in two rounds

KATHMANDU, Aug 30: The government has decided to hold the election to the Provincial Assembly and to the Members of House Representatives in two rounds.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Wednesday at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has, on the basis of the suggestions of Election Commission, decided to conduct the elections separately. Earlier, the government had decided to hold the election once and the date for both elections was announced for upcoming November 26.

Briefing the media about the meeting decisions, Minister for Information and Communications, Mohan Bahadur Basnet, said, “It has not been decided yet the complete schedule for the elections when the report of the Electoral Constituency Delimitation Commission is awaited. But bearing in mind the EC’s suggestions, the election to be held in the second phase will be conducted on December 7.”

The remaining issues relating to the province including its capital city will be finalised later on the basis of political consensus, he added.

Minister Basnet, who is also Spokesperson of the government, said, “The meeting has also decided to set up National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission for which the Constitutional Council will make recommendation.”

It was also decided in the meeting to accept loan grant assistance worth more than Rs 15 billion from the Asian Development for customs sector reform and modernization.

Discussion was held on scrapping the vacancies for the post of Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP) and creating a new vacancy for Deputy Inspector General of Police, according to Minister Basnet.

Similarly, decisions made in the meeting includes promotion of Brigadier General of Nepal Army, Rajendra Karki, to the post of Major General.

Likewise, Secretary at the Ministry of Land Reform, Krishna Raj Devkota, has been transferred to the Ministry of Supply. Shambhu Koirala will be transferred to the Ministry of Land Reform, Krishna Raj GC to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and Maheshwor Neupane to Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, according to the cabinet meeting. RSS