National
EC proposes Rs 1.4m expenditure ceiling for FPTP candidates
The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday proposed an expenditure cap of Rs 1.4 million for each candidate contesting federal elections under the first-past-the-post system. The proposed ceiling is 40 percent higher than what the election body had set for candidates contesting the second Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in 2013.Kamal Dev Bhattarai
The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday proposed an expenditure cap of Rs 1.4 million for each candidate contesting federal elections under the first-past-the-post system. The proposed ceiling is 40 percent higher than what the election body had set for candidates contesting the second Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in 2013.
The EC made the proposal during a meeting with the representatives of political parties. The EC has proposed a spending cap of Rs 750,000 for candidates contesting provincial elections. “The EC proposed the expenditure ceiling in line with the inflation, population of constituencies and the increased size of electoral constituencies,” Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav said during the meeting.
The Election Commission Act 2016 allows the constitutional body to fix the maximum ceiling on expenditure of political parties and candidates. CEC Yadav also sought feedback from political party representatives regarding the EC’s proposal.
Party representatives were of the view that since the number of constituencies has been brought down to 165 from 240, the constituencies in terms of geography are bigger, which will put more financial pressure on the candidates. They, however, have not objected to the EC’s proposal. “The proposal floated by the EC seems reasonable,” said Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal who attended the meeting. “We suggested that the EC make provisions more practical so that legal action could be taken against those candidates who fail to comply with them,” Rijal told the Post. The CPN-UML also supported the proposal made by EC. UML leader Agni Kharel said the UML is not in favour of increasing the expenditure limit.
EC Spokesperson Nawaraj Dhakal said the election body will finalise the expenditure cap after incorporating the feedbacks from the political parties. “We proposed the figure on Thursday to initiate discussions,” said Dhakal.
In the first parliamentary elections in 1991, the expenditure cap was Rs 225,000, which was raised to Rs 400,000 for 1996 elections. The election body had set an expenditure cap of Rs 800,000 for the first CA elections in 2008.
According to former chief election commissioner Neel Kantha Upreti, “it is but natural to raise the spending ceiling”. “The real issue is making the election campaigns more transparent,” he said. “What we need is more transparency in the funding and source of funding along with penalties for those who fail to maintain transparency,” he added. “Past experiences show that candidates have invariably failed to maintain transparency in their expenditures.” He called for strong penalty provisions regarding campaign financing.
According to the Election Commission Act 2016, candidates must submit their expenditure statements to EC within 30 days of the announcement of final results. A party or candidate failing to do so is liable to a fine. Candidates who breach the legal provisions could be barred from contesting elections for six years, according to the law.