Despite harping on holding local level elections in April next year, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has not held a single meeting with the Election Commission for the past four months.

EC officials have been seeking to meet the PM to discuss the plans to hold the polls but the meeting scheduled for last Sunday was cancelled after Dahal cited his busy timetable, according to EC officials.

The last time the PM met with EC officials was on August 22 when he visited the commission and asked the officials to make preparations for holding the local polls in the new structure recommended by the Local Level Restructuring Commission (LLRC).

EC officials say they want to know whether the government wants to hold the local polls under the new structure or the existing one.

Less than four months to an April election, it is high time the government clarified to the election authority about the modality of the local elections, EC Commissioner Ila Sharma said. The election body says it needs at least 120 days for the preparations after the poll-related laws are endorsed and the LLRC report is implemented.

“If the local elections are delayed, it may diminish the prospect of holding the elections for Provincial Parliament, National Assembly and Federal Parliament before the Parliament’s tenure ends on January 21, 2018,” said Sharma.

PM’s chief political adviser Chakrapani Khanal said a meeting between the prime minister and the EC was not a big deal but it would not make much difference in holding the local elections without political understanding on the matter.

He said the government was still in favour of holding the election under the new structure as not doing so could invite strong protests.