Election Poll date will be announced tomorrow: Dahal

KATHMANDU, MAY 28:

UCPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal claimed that the government will announce the date of Constituent Assembly on Wednesday.

Chairman Dahal revealed that he has forged an agreement with the chairman of Interim Election Council (IEC), Khil Raj Regmi, this morning to announce polls the poll date for last week of November.

He was talking to a team of journalists here in the Capital.

“Government is serious to declare the Constituent Assembly (CA) poll date. The date will be announced on Wednesday, the Republic Day, after the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) clears decks,” said Dahal.

As the UCPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) have failed to agree on the one per cent threshold provision for proportional representation and the CA's capacity, the government is yet to give a final touch to the electoral ordinances and announce the poll date.

“A conducive environment for elections will be created soon after announcement of the date,” claimed Dahal.

On the occasion, the Maoist leader assured all that free and fair polls will be held by November, saying the government and political parties are committed to that.

On a different note, Chairman Dahal said seeking an alternative to the Regmi-led government would be inviting an accident. It is a matter of sadness that signatories of the 11-point agreement and 25-point presidential decree of March 13 are looking for an alternative, he stated.

According to him, the UCPN-Maoist is completely against the one per cent threshold provision for “it could fail to secure representation of small parties in the CA.”

Source: THT