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Nepal decides to hold local body elections on May 14: government spokesman

Xinhua, February 21, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Nepalese government on Monday decided to hold the local body elections across the country on May 14, a government spokesman said.

Nepal will be holding elections in altogether 719 local units that include four metropolitan cities, 12 sub-metropolitan cities, 241 municipal and 462 village councils.

A Cabinet meeting held in the Nepalese capital made the decision to hold the local body elections across the country, government spokesman Surendra Karki told media.

"The Cabinet decided to hold the local body elections on May 14 across the country in one phase as per the recommendation of the Election Commission," the spokesman said.

Prior to the Cabinet decision, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal consulted with the office bearers of the Election Commission today, officials said.

If things go as planned, the Himalayan country will hold the local body elections after a hiatus of 19 years.

The local body elections should have been held in every five years but due to political instability, have been halted since May 1997.

With the absence of local elections, corruption has been rampant and people are suffering from various local level problems across the country, observers said.

A large amount of government budget goes to local level but due to the lack of accountable and elected body, the money is said to be often misused.

With the government's decision to hold the local body elections, the Election Commission will soon start preparations for holding the local body elections, the Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav told media.

It is mandatory for Nepal to hold three-tier election, local, provincial, centre, within January next year under the new constitutional provisions.

"If the parties failed to replace current parliament by the new one within January will invite political and constitutional crisis in the country," Kathmandu-based political analyst Gopal Khanal told Xinhua.

The government's decision has got mixed response in the country. Major opposition party CPN (UML) has welcomed the government's decision to hold the local body elections while the agitating ethnic Madhes-based parties from Southern belt have objected the decision with their reservations, who had been demanding an amendment to the Constitution prior to the local body elections date announcement. Endit