EC declares provincial, parliamentary poll schedule

Kathmandu, Sept 12: The Election Commission of Nepal (EC) has declared the calendar of provincial and parliamentary elections scheduled to be held simultaneously in two phases on November 26 and December 7. A meeting of high EC officials, including Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav, approved the schedules of both proportional and first-past-the-post elections yesterday. As per the new FPTP schedule of November 26 election, candidates have to file their nomination papers on October 22 at offices of chief returning officers from 10:00am to 5:00pm. The EC will publish names of the candidate between 5:00pm and 6:00pm the same day. People can file complaints against the candidates between 10:00am and 5:00pm on October 23 at the same offices,a report in "The Himalayan Times" today said. The election body will probe complaints lodged against candidates on October 24 from 10:00am to 3:00pm and publish names of candidates from 3:00pm to 5:00pm the same day. The EC said candidates could withdraw their candidacies between 10:00am and 1:00pm on October 25. The poll panel will publish final names of candidates between 1:00pm and 3:00pm, the same day. The election body will provide election symbols to candidates between 3:00pm and 6:00pm, the same day. The poll panel added that voting would start at 7:00am and continue till 5:00pm on November 26. The EC stated that for the FPTP election schedule of December 7, candidates have to file their nomination papers on November 2 at the offices of chief returning officers from 10:00am to 5:00pm. The EC will publish names of candidates between 5:00pm and 6:00pm the same day. People can file complaints against candidates from 10:00am to 5:00pm on November 3 at the same offices. The election body will probe complaints lodged against candidates on November 4 from 10:00am to 3:00pm and publish names of candidates from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, the same day. The EC stated that candidates could withdraw their candidacies from 10:00am to 1:00pm on November 5. The poll panel will publish final names of candidates from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, the same day. The poll panel stated that voting will begin at 7 am and continue till 5:00pm on December 7. As per the schedule for proportional representation electoral system, the EC will publish names of parties contesting PR election on September 13. On September 14, parties can withdraw their names if they decide not to contest PR election. On September 15, the EC will provide poll symbols to parties and publish the final list of contesting parties. As per the schedule, parties will have to submit the close list of PR candidates to the EC on October 15. The EC will let parties correct their name lists from October 16 to 23. Parties will have to submit amended lists of candidates to the EC between October 23 and 29. Candidates can withdraw their names from close list between 10:00am and 5:00pm on October 30. Parties can replace their candidates from October 31 to November 1 between 10:00am to 5:00pm. The EC will publish close list of candidates from 10:00am to 5:00pm on November 3. Complaints against candidates listed in the close list can be lodged from November 4 to 10. The EC will scrutinise complaints between November 11 and 17 and notify about candidate(s) removed from the close list on November 18. The EC will publish the final close list on November 19. Voting for the PR system will begin at 7:00am and continue till 5:00pm on November 26 and December 7. UNI