The government on Sunday said that there was no dispute over giving the Election Commission rights to declare the elections date.

“There is no confusion that the election date should be declared by the commission,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi at the State Affairs Committee of the Legislative- Parliament.

The House panel summoned DPM Nidhi and other senior officials to discuss amendment bill related to Integrated Law, Duties and Powers of the Election Commission.

Insisting that the government is positive on making a powerful poll body, he said that there was no dispute over the issue of declaring the election date by the commission.

Expressing commitment that the government would provide a maximum support to empower the EC, DPM Nidhi said that voters’ awareness campaign would get continuous support from the government. Advice received from lawmakers on the bill would be incorporated, he added.

The lawmakers suggested incorporating guarantee of 33 percent women participation in all activities of the EC in the bill. Demanding the rights to the EC for declaring the election date, EC Commissioner Ila Sharma said that all other countries in South Asia have been practicing this for long.

Sharma said a provision of giving rights to the EC to declare the date for elections should be incorporated in the bill.

During the discussion, the lawmakers drew the attention of the government towards neutrality of the commission, its effectiveness, providing logistics, ceiling for poll expenditure, rejection of foreign support around the poll date, among others.