EC starts process to amend regulations prior to issuance of ordinance

KATHMANDU: A dispute has surfaced between Chief Commissioner and commissioners after the Election Commission started the process to amend the regulations prior to the issuance of an ordinance related to the political parties.

The ordinance sent by the government to the President for approval has not been issued yet. The commissioners expressed their dissatisfaction after Chief Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya directed the officials to amend the regulations of the Election Commission related to the political parties.

Leaders were holding a meeting at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar to issue an ordinance to make it easy for the Madhav Nepal faction to split the party. They were making various speculations about the ordinance.

The leaders were discussing the percentage to be included in the ordinance to split the party. But, one of the sources informed the Election Commission about the percentage and the poll body started the process to amend the regulations accordingly, a commissioner said.

According to the EC source, the process to amend the regulations related to the political parties was started in such a way that a political party can split from the mother party if it has 20 percent members in the Central Committee and Parliamentary Party by removing a provision of 40 percent in the regulations.

The commissioners also questioned the staffers about how the process of amending the regulations has started without issuing the ordinance. It has been assumed that the government might have informed the Chief Commissioner about the threshold in the ordinance.

Thapaliya instructed the officials according to the same. The Election Commission should amend the regulations only after publishing the ordinance in the gazette. According to a source, the process of party registration will not move ahead without amending the regulations. That is why, the authority used the  fast track process to amend the regulations.