ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENT
The
Kathmandu Post
21 May
2017
ENCOURAGING
DEVELOPMENT
After
almost 20 years, the first phase of the local elections was held on May 14 in
three provinces with much enthusiasm. Now, the counting of votes is underway in
the district head quarters of all three provinces (“Vote counting tedious, time-consuming affair” Mar 17, Page 1). Voters
are anxiously waiting to see if those they voted for get elected.
It
is yet to be seen now whether the second phase of local level elections-slated
for June 14 – will be held in the remaining four provinces. Also, in accordance
to the four point clandestine agreement that took place between the Nepali Congress
(NC) and the CPN (Maoist Centre), PM Dahal is handing over the reins of
government to Sher Bahadur Deuba within a week (“PM Dahal says will step down within a week” May 16, Page 1). Dahal should be credited this time for
fulfilling his commitment by successfully holding the first phase local polls.
It will be Deuba’s turn to hold the second phase by bringing the Madhes based
political parties on board. For this, his government has to initiate
constitution amendment process soon.
It
was also encouraging to read the news about New Delhi assuming a neutral
position at such a time when the government has already announced the date for
the second phase elections. If the Deuba led government fails to hold the
elections, the legitimacy of the first phase will remain questionable. This
will directly affect the new statute which needs to be implemented by holding
three tiers of elections within January 2018. If the constitution is not amended,
the country may again plunge into political and constitutional crisis. It is
hoped that the major political parties especially the UML will soften their stands
on constitution amendment and pave the way for holding second phase of the local
elections on time.
Rai Biren Bangdel
Maharajgunj
