The Election Commission has called candidates to file nominations for the upcoming local level elections scheduled for May 13.

A meeting of the Election Commission held to finalise the poll programme on Friday decided nomination filing days for April 24 and 25, according to Shaligram Poudel, spokesperson for the commission.

The list of the candidates will be published on April 25 after 5pm.

Complaints against candidates, if any, can be lodged on April 26.

The commission will examine the nomination papers and investigate complaints on April 27 and 28, said Poudel.

The country will hold local elections this time in a single phase, unlike in 2017 when polls were conducted in three phases, to elect representatives for the 753 local units.

As many as 80 parties have registered themselves with the Election Commission for the local polls. The commission’s decision making it mandatory that local representatives must resign before filing nominations has run into controversy. But Commission officials said the provision was introduced to prevent misuse of state resources by candidates.

The code of conduct published in the Nepal Gazette on Thursday says representatives must resign if they want to contest elections again.

The commission plans to enforce the code of conduct from March 29.