Govt committed to holding elections on announced date: Home Minister

Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal has said that the government is fully committed to conducting fresh elections to the members of the House of Representatives (HoR) on the announced date.

The HoR election has been scheduled for March 5, 2026.

While inaugurating a regional-level (Gandaki) security seminar in Pokhara today, the Minister said the government is focused on building an integrated security plan along with managerial preparations for conducting the elections. 

He stated that the government was formed with the major mandate of conducting the elections and that its primary responsibility is to hand over government leadership to a people elected government by successfully organizing the polls.

“The election schedule has already been unveiled. It will be conducted on March 5,” he said.

Stating that the government is in talks with concerned stakeholders, including political parties, to create an environment of trust for the elections, he added that an integrated security plan targeting the elections has been put in place. 

The election security strategy will be finalized after assessing the security situation in the provinces and districts.

He further said that among the prisoners who had escaped prisons during the September 8–9 Gen Z movement, 70 percent have returned, and the process of recovering the looted arms is underway. 

According to the Minister, the government is seriously working to normalize security challenges in the aftermath of the Gen Z movement and to ensure that peace and security prevail in the country. 

He also highlighted the role of provincial governments in successfully holding the elections.

Security chiefs, including representatives from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force, from all 11 districts of Gandaki Province are attending the seminar.

According to Joint Secretary at the Home Ministry, Govinda Rijal, the event aims to prepare a future security strategy and action plan for the province. 

It will also discuss election security plans.

 

UML 11th National Congress: Candidacy filing for new leadership election today

The candidacy filing of the candidates for the election of the new leadership is taking place today in the ongoing 11th National Congress of the CPN-UML, according to the Chairman of UML Central Election Commission Dr Bijaya Subba.

The namelist of the voters was made public last evening. The timeline to lodge complaints over the voters' namelist was set until 9 this morning.

The final namelist of the voters will be published at 10:15 am today and the candidates will be given the nomination form from 9 am to 12 this afternoon.

The candidates can register their forms from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and the preliminary namelist of the candidates will be released at 2:30 pm. 

Dr Subba said that complaints on the candidates could be filed from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm today itself. 

Likewise, the final namelist of the candidates will be made public at 6 this evening, Dr Subba said.

As per the schedule, the voting will be held at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu from 11am to 5 pm on December 16. 

The voting will be conducted by electronic voting machines. 

Incumbent Chairman KP Sharma Oli and senior Vice Chairman Ishwor Pokhrel are vying for the top post in the UML.

 

EC proposes transparency in election spending

With just 80 days remaining for the  House of Representatives (HoR) elections scheduled for March 5, the Election Commission has made some new provisions in the Election Code of Conduct-2082. 

As per the new provisions in the Election Code of Conduct-2082, all spending and income should be done through banking systems and all bills and vouchers of the expenses should be kept safe. 

The EC stated that such a provision was aimed at ensuring transparency in the source of election spending.   

Similarly, the political parties and the candidates need to release the estimated costs for election campaigns and the sources of such amounts while filing their nominations. 

The candidates should open a separate bank account and carry out the transactions solely from the same account for the election campaigning purpose, according to the new Election Code of Conduct.

 

 

UML 11th National Congress: Election schedule made public

The CPN-UML has announced the election schedule to elect the new leadership from the party's 11th National Congress.

The Chairman of UML Central Election Commission, Dr Bijaya Subba, made public  the election schedule this evening. 

As per the schedule, the namelist of voters will be made public at 7 this evening, while the complaints over the voters' namelist could be filed until 9 am on Monday.

The final namelist will be published at 10:15 am on Monday and the candidates will be given the nomination form from 9 am to 12 in the afternoon on Monday.

The candidates can register their forms from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and the preliminary namelist of the candidates will be released at 2:30 pm. 

Dr Subba said that complaints on the candidates could be filed from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm on Monday. 

Likewise, the final namelist of the candidates will be made public at 6 pm on Monday.

The  voting will be held from 11 am to 5 pm on December 16. 

The inaugural session of the UML's 11th National Congress was held in Bhaktapur on Saturday. 

The closed-session of the party's National Congress is going on in Bhrikutimandap from this afternoon.