The process to form a new government will begin only after at least 45 days as 

the Election Commission would take a minimum of a month to hold the National Assembly polls.

Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav said on Friday that it could take more than a month to elect the upper house after the polling day is announced.

The poll authority urged Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday to appoint provincial chiefs at the earliest. “CEC Yadav informed the prime minister that election of the National Assembly is not possible without administering the oath to the [newly elected] provincial assembly members,” the EC said in a statement.

In a meeting with PM Deuba, EC officials urged the government to declare the date of election at the earliest. The poll body on Thursday invited the political parties to register for the vote within 15 days. PM Deuba responded that the date would be announced within a couple of days, EC Spokesman Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said.

According to the ordinance endorsed by the President on Friday, the government declares the date for upper house election in consultation with the EC once the electoral college is ready.

The electoral college comprises 1,506 chiefs and deputy chiefs of 753 local federal units and 550 members of the seven provincial assemblies. The EC is mulling over using electronic voting machines for the polls.

The EC had given the parties until Friday to submit the names of candidates from their closed lists for proportional representation (PR) seats of the provincial assemblies. EC officials said the parties would get three more days to correct the lists if they failed to meet the defined criteria of representation.

The EC is said to be preparing regulations and directives for the election. 

“We are waiting for the government to appoint the provincial chiefs so that the EC can declare the final results of the provincial assembly [election],” said election Commissioner Ila Sharma.After announcing the results of the provincial assemblies, the commission would present them to the provincial chiefs within a week.

Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Yagya Bahadur Thapa said the government was preparing to name the provincial chiefs soon. Prime Minister Deuba is said to be holding consultations with the top leaders of major parties for the purpose.

After the poll results are out, the EC allots PR seats to the parties in the House of Representatives. The parties will then send the names of their candidates from the closed lists for election as members of the lower house on their proportional representation quotas.The process to form a new government begins only after the lower house convenes.

A long wait for a new pm

• More than a month to elect the upper house after the polling day is announced

• Election of National Assembly ‘impossible’ without swearing in provincial assembly members

• Parties called on Thursday to register for the vote within 15 days

• Process to form a new government begins after the lower house convenes