Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav has reiterated that the Election Commission is determined and steadfast to conduct the second-phase local level elections scheduled for June 14, and has been working accordingly. The second-phase election is taking place in 461 local levels. 

Speaking in a discussion programme with the chiefs of the monitoring teams and the micro observers deployed in the first phase local polls on May 14 here on Thursday, CEC Yadav said, "We are proceeding ahead with the management of the second-phase local election, without any kind of confusion, to have it accomplished in a free and fair manner." 

He clarified that the Election Commission has not received official information regarding increment in the number of local level units, stating the election could not be held on the basis of the 'incomplete' report coming from the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development. 

"The Commission has forwarded the election management works focusing on the 461 local level units alone," CEC Yadav insisted. 

Recalling that the EC, which had been earlier preparing for holding the election in a single phase at all the local levels of the country, had agreed June 14 as the election date so as to facilitate building an environment of political consensus, Yadav shared that the election materials have also been managed for the election at the 461 local level units. 

"The EC, taking a lesson from the previous election, is fully aware of and alert towards any possible untoward activities in the second round of the election and is committed to not allowing such sad incidents to occur," he said. 

He went on to say that though the second-round of election covered more territory than the first one, the EC was hopeful that the election would be held in an easier way relatively of the previous one. He instructed the election observers to carry out assigned duty honestly and professionally. 

The CEC, claiming that the first-round of the election was concluded quite peacefully and in a systematic way which, according to him, was more than the expectation, praised the role of observers in the election. 

The first-round of the election covered 283 local levels of 34 districts in province no. 3, 4 and 6. The government had deputed government secretaries, under-secretaries, section officers in various districts as election observers and micro observers. RSS