Kathmandu- It is an open secret that some members of the ruling coalition want to delay the local-level elections. The Election Commission (EC), a constitutional body mandated for holding the elections, has already proposed April 27 for holding the local level polls. But political parties are neglecting the EC proposals. 

The coalition ruling is seeking ways to postpone the election. That is why they are talking about the contradictory provisions in the constitution and electoral laws. On January 23, the ruling coalition held consultations with some legal eagles who are divided on when the elections should take place.

Some parties want to delay the elections but are not ready to take the blame, which is why they are looking for some ambiguous provisions in the constitution.  If the parties are honest, there won’t be any problems to hold elections on the EC-proposed date, said a ruling party leader, adding, it is a tactic to buy time and postpone the elections. 

On January 23, the ruling collation held consultations with constitutional exports to solicit their views on contradictory provisions in the constitution and Local Election Act 2017.  “Constitutional lawyers have advised the government to amend the law to make it compatible with constitutional provisions,” said Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who is also the government spokesperson. He also said that government would move ahead as per the constitutional provisions.

However, the environment is not conducive for amending the law as the main opposition CPN-UML has been obstructing the Parliament. The UML has already made it clear that it would not accept any move that would defer the local elections.

That is why chances of the local elections happening in April\May are slim. The next window for holding an election in November this year. The ruling coalition is also proposing to hold all three-tier elections at a go. However, EC has said that it is not possible to hold all three-level elections at once due to logistical issues.