While questions are being raised over the security situation amid a spike in violent activities, Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav has said the Election Commission is confident of safety during the December 7 polls.

“The EC is very much confident of security management by the government and urges everyone to vote without fear,” Yadav told journalists on Sunday. “The government has assured the EC about security for the polls.”

The EC is said to have completed all the preparations for the second phase of the federal and provincial polls scheduled for December 7. Most election officers and their deputies have already reached their destinations while some others would take charge by Monday. Training for them has been over while all the necessary materials have reached the polling centres in 45 districts.

Polling takes place from 7am to 5pm at 128 federal and 256 provincial constituencies. Voter identity cards will be distributed on December 5 and 6.

For the House of Representatives, 1,663 first-past-the-post (FPTP) candidates are in the fray while 2,819 are competing for provincial assembly seats. A total of 12,235,993 voters have been listed.

The government has deployed 133 joint-secretaries as main observers and 88 under-secretaries as micro-observers to monitor the polls, besides 400 international observers from four organisations and 45,000 national observers from 52 organisations.

The counting of votes for the first phase of polls held in 32 districts on November 26 begins at 5pm on December 7 while the counting for the second-phase elections will start after the boxes are gathered at the office of chief election officers.

Yadav urged all the media, political parties, candidates and voters to strictly follow the silence period that begins at midnight Monday.

Asked about the possibility of invalid votes owing to an inadequate voter education for the second-phase vote, CEC Yadav said it would be less than five per cent. 

‘Poll code enforcement better’

KATHMANDU: At a time when the incumbent office bearers of the EC are being described as the “weakest” team in terms of implementation of the election code of conduct, Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav has said that adherence to the code is improving.

He claimed “significant” improvement in enforcing the code of conduct during the recent local level polls and the first phase of federal parliament and provincial assembly elections.

“Even the political parties have implemented the code of conduct which they used to flout. We have warned them against violations,” Yadav said, adding that the parties have started seeking the EC’s permission while the poll authority had been liberal at times.

The EC observes that conflict between the political parties has been less intense while observers had lauded the EC’s role in successfully holding the polls earlier this year. (PR)