Election code violation
Election code violation
This is in response to the news report “EC
chief dodges code violation issue” (THT, 14 Nov. 2013) that, I am sure, might have drawn the
attention of all the voters. How come the EC chief, who has been mandated to
force the political parties to abide the election code of conduct, has been
keeping mum on the code violation? Should not he and his organization be
vigilant all the time to ensure that the election code of conduct has been properly
followed by all the political parties those are in election fray? Should not
the EC keep its eyes and ears opened all the time and be ready and bold to take
necessary actions to those who continue to violate the election code?
There have been reports coming in that
mostly the senior leaders of major political parties are openly violating the
election code of conduct. There seem to be abundant evidences as reported in
the news media. But, so far, EC did not seem serious in taking any actions
against such violators. There seemed to be some serious flaws on the part of
EC. Is it because the EC members were picked up by the major political parties?
Is it because they need to be loyal to those political parties who are behind
their nominations? If so, how could the voters be convinced that the forthcoming
second CA election would be free and fare under the direct or indirect
influence of the major political parties?
As per the EC code of conduct, a candidate
under the FPTP and PR systems can spend a maximum of Rs. 1 million and 75000/-
respectively in total. However, looking at the senior leaders of so called big
parties using helicopter to address mass gathering around different districts,
there have been serious violation of code of conduct. None of them were taken
any action by the EC. What made the EC not to be able to take any actions
against such violators? What could be the reasons behind these flaws? On the
other hand, it completely failed in keeping its promises of distributing
voter’s ID card before second CA election. Now, some of the political
leaders and voters have started raising doubts over the misuse of the temporary ID cards
that are being printed by the EC itself.
Rai Biren Bangdel
Maharjgunj, Kathmandu
