DISTRICT POLICE OFFICE/DARCHULA
INUNDATED: Locals of Darchula watch from the rooftops as the flooded Mahakali river threatened to wreak more havoc on Thursday morning.
After the four parties ran out of excuses for dilly dallying, they gave the CJ-led government the green signal and on 14 June, the cabinet set 19 November as the date for elections. While there are other technical and logistical hurdles, by far the most worrying aspect is the opposition to polls from the CPN-M, the Madhes Front led by Upendra Yadav and the newly-formed Federal Socialist Party led by Ashok Rai. But none of their demands look so inscrutable that they can’t be resolved through dialogue and we see no compelling reason now not to have elections in November.
To get the ball rolling, the Election Commission announced a timetable this week. Let’s hope our leaders leave behind their bad habit of missing deadlines this time round.
Voter registration: Until 15 July
Discussions with stakeholders: 7 July to 2 November
Formulate, amend, enforce, and report election audits and policies: 7 July - 15 December
Complaints against voter lists: 16 July - 3 August
Media inspection: 16 July - 30 November
Decide voting centres: By 25 July
Voter awareness training: 28 July - 24 October
Final decision on party registration: 3 August
Appoint, train, and set office for election officers: 18 August - 14 September
Prepare and finalise proportional representation system: 18 August - 21 September
Run pre-election program: 8 - 28 September
Establish joint election centre: 18 August - 23 November
Develop, manage, and run media centre: 7 July - 15 December
CA elections: 19 November
Vote counting, result processing, and announcement:
20 November onwards
Formulate, amend, enforce, regulate Code of Conduct:
Until 15 December
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