Valley
Three members recommended for EC
The Constitution Council (CC) on Friday recommended Narendra Dahal, Ishwori Prasad Poudel and Sudheer Kumar Shah—all former bureaucrats—for the post of election commissioners.Tika R Pradhan
The Constitution Council (CC) on Friday recommended Narendra Dahal, Ishwori Prasad Poudel and Sudheer Kumar Shah—all former bureaucrats—for the post of election commissioners.
The Election Commission, which as per the constitutional provision has to have five commissioners, currently has only two—Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav and Election Commissioner Ila Sharma.
A CC meeting on Friday recommended the three names as election commissioners, continuing the trend of dividing the individuals among major parties.
According to sources, Dahal, a former secretary at the EC, from Jhapa district represents the main opposition CPN-UML. Poudel is from Syangja and he was recommended under the Nepali Congress’ quota. He is a former defence secretary.
Similarly, Shah, a former joint secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, is from Rukum and is said to be close to the CPN (Maoist Centre).
“The three names were recommended unanimously,” said Deputy Speaker Ganga Prasad Yadav after Friday’s meeting of the CC. As per the constitutional provision, the nominees have to go through parliamentary hearing before they are appointed as election commissioners.
The EC had long been demanding that the vacant post of commissioners be fulfilled at the earliest so that it could expedite preparations for the three levels of elections that must be held by January 21 next year.