Nepali Times

If you want elections on time, you must first fill vacant positions at the Election Commission. The terms of three commissioners ended on the same day earlier this year, but they can easily be re-appointed if the parties agree and the government sends a referral to the president. In fact, they were appointed six years ago the same way, and this would avoid the politicising of appointments and further uncertainty and tokenism.

There is also the need to re-demarcate constituencies based on the new census results, especially for Kathmandu and the Tarai. But there is no time, the parties seem determined to hold elections by 29 May, and have shown an unsettling disregard for what that would entail. There is also still time to redraw voters’ lists and IDs, and the only way to do this is to make sure the EC is fully staffed. Announcing election dates will only make sense if the EC is complete. The prime minister announced polls for November last year, and postponed it to April this year. Now the parties want elections by May. But this is not a party election, and only the EC can hold polls.

The parties know very well that democracy cannot survive without elections and it will be five years since the last polls on 10 April. More important than whether or not the Bhattarai-led coalition stays in power is to form an EC which can hold free and fair elections.