National Assembly election on Feb 7

KATHMANDU, Jan 5: The government has set February 8 for holding the election of the National Assembly.

An emergency cabinet held  at prime minister’s official residence Baluwatar officially finalized February 7 as the day for holding the National Assembly election as per Clause 5 (1) of National Assembly Election Ordinance-2074 BS , according to Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki.

According to the constitution, the upper house will comprise of 59 members: eight elected from each of the seven provinces and three to be nominated by the president. The statute has made it mandatory to elect at least three women, one from dalit or minority community and one with disability from each province.

Altogether 2,056 voters will be eligible to vote for the upper house, including 550 provincial assembly members and 1,056 chiefs and deputy chiefs of the 753 local units.

The EC has called for the registration of parties for the National Assembly election by January 9.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari, on December 29, had authenticated the National Assembly Election Ordinance putting an end to a month-long dispute, provisioning single transferable vote system. The cabinet had forwarded the STV system for the election of upper house, but the largest party CPN-UML had objected it demanding majority voting system. Following the dispute, the President had put the ordinance on hold seeking consensus among the parties.

The cabinet has also decided to extend the tenure of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared   Persons (CIEDP) by a year. The tenure of both the commissions is expiring on February 9.

The cabinet will fix the temporary province capitals and appoint province chiefs on next meeting, said Minister for Labor and Employment Furmullah Mansoor.