Election Commission seeks Rs 7.79 billion to hold elections

 The Election Commission (EC) sought Rs 7.79 billion from the government to conduct the midterm elections scheduled for April 30 and May 10.

Writting a letter to the Finance Ministry, the commission today demanded the money to prepare for the mid-term poll announced by the incumbent government led by the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

“A meeting of the commission yesterday estimated that they will need Rs 7.79 billons to conduct the midterm election of the House of Representatives (HoR) scheduled for April 30 and May 10,” a press note from the commission reads, adding that the commission demanded Rs 374 million to arrange measures necessary for the safety of the Covid-19 pandemic also. “The commission does not plan to buy any new equipment and vehicles for the midterm polls as the equipment and vehicles that it has at its disposal can be operated after necessary maintenance,” the press note reads, adding that it has developed a work procedure to hold the election and manage other election-related expenses in an economic manner in view of the fact that the midterm election is being held in the immediate aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic that left the country’s economy paralysed.

The economists, however, claim that the elections will cost the country five times more than the commission has asked for. “Since the election also will have other huge costs, the overall expenses of the elections will come to around Rs 35 billion,” said economist Dr Chandramani Adhikari.

The elections have become costly as the constituencies are bigger than the previous polls, he said, except the expenses for the commission, there are other costs for the candidate and also the political parties. “The elections have lately been very costly due to larger constituencies, and also our electoral system.”

Though the Election Commission has fixed an upper limit of the expenses for a candidate of all the political parties, the candidates must spend more than the fixed amount to win the elections, he said, adding that the mid-term polls expenses will put pressure on development expenses. “Since the government is unable to spend the development budget due to coronavirus pandemic, the Finance Ministry will be forced to transfer the unspent development budget for the elections.”

The government has – in the budget for the current fiscal year – not allocated budget for the elections in the budget as the elections will be hold every five years, and this is not the election year. However, premier Oli dissolved the House and announced the mid-term poll – against the spirit of the Constitution of the country – due to his personal rivalry with another chair of the ruling political party NCP (NCP) Puspa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachand’ and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, both the former prime ministers.