By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Feb. 4: The Election Commmission has made correspondence to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) demanding Rs. 7.79 billion to conduct and manage the upcoming elections to the Lower House of the parliament.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had announced the election for the House of Representatives on April 30 and May 10 this year. Following a discussion with the Minister for Finance Bishu Prasad Paudel, the EC on Tuesday had decided to make the demand of the said amount to the MoF.
Issuing a statement, it said that the elections would be organised in an economic way compared to th previous polls and enough caution would be paid to the safety from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The EC has prepared an economic procedure to conduct the election following the economic methods and coronavirus challenge. Budget is demanded for the minimum work required,” it said.
It is planning to repair the vehicles, equipment and materials used in previous elections. There is no plan to procure new equipment and vehicles.
Rs. 371 million is proposed for the minimum safety against the pandemic. The EC has decided to conduct the election related trainings virtually via online media.
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya and commissioners interacted with Minister for Foreign Affairs on Wednesday at the EC on holding elections and the management of the observers.
As per the Election Commission Act, 2073, the EC can permit Nepali or foreign individuals or organisations to observe the election. The election body has discussed the issue with FM Gyawali regarding making request to the international observation organisations and diplomatic agencies to make the observation of the election.
As per the election law, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should also provide relations officer to the observation teams.