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Team readies two poll bills for submission
The subcommittee of the State Affairs Committee has said it will submit two election-related bills to the SAC on Monday as the deadline given to it to finalise three bills expired on Sunday.
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Prithvi Man Shrestha
Published at : January 23, 2017
Updated at : January 23, 2017 08:17
Kathmandu
The subcommittee of the State Affairs Committee has said it will submit two election-related bills to the SAC on Monday as the deadline given to it to finalise three bills expired on Sunday.
The subcommittee led by lawmaker Ananda Prasad Dhungana was asked to finalise the Bill to Amend and Integrate Laws related to the Election Commission (EC), Bill Related to Voter List, and Bill to Amend and Integrate Laws Related to Political Parties.
Dhungana told the Post that they would submit the Bill to Amend and Integrate Laws related to the EC and the Bill Related to Voter List to the SAC after resolving the differences between the lawmakers.
The subcommittee plans to give final touches to the first two bills in its meeting on Monday morning and submit them to the SAC later.
Regarding the Bill Related to Voter List, there was disagreement between the government and the EC on the cut-off date for voter registration. The taskforce had urged the EC and the Home Ministry to settle the matter.
“It will probably be finalised in line with the EC demand that fresh voter registration should not take place once the election date is declared until the polls are over,” said Rekha Sharma, a subcommittee member.
Regarding the Bill to Amend and Integrate Laws related to the EC, the subcommittee members were divided over whether to allow the commission to declare the election date as demanded by it.
Lawmakers said the subcommittee is most likely to allow the government to retain the authority to declare the polls in consultation with the EC.
Since the sub-panel is yet to finalise the Bill to Amend and Integrate Laws Related to Political Parties, it plans to request for more time to conclude it.
Dhungana said they would be able to finalise this bill within the next few days.
As the SAC meeting also takes place on Monday, it is expected to decide what to do with the two other draft laws—Bill on Local Election Procedure Act and Bill on Election (Offence and Punishment) Act, which landed in the SAC on Sunday from the Parliament Secretariat.
It took more than a month for these two bills to reach the SAC due to the obstruction of Parliament by the opposition parties protesting the constitution amendment bill.
According to the EC, the five bills are essential for holding the local polls.
Prithvi Man Shrestha
Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years.
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