The Election Commission has decided to implement the code of conduct for the November 20 federal and provincial polls from Wednesday with commitments drawn from the leaders of political parties on Sunday.

However, political analysts and observers say this time also implementation of the election code is going to be a ritual because the ‘toothless’ poll authority cannot implement it properly because the election officials themselves are ‘not independent’.

The Election Commission has been making stricter codes of conduct of late but lacks a mechanism to monitor and implement them properly.

"We have decided to implement the election code of conduct from 12 am Wednesday," said Dinesh Thapaliya, the chief election commissioner. “We will do the needful to implement it.”

Also, in an attempt to ensure that the elections are free, fair and transparent, the commission on Tuesday issued a 60-point instruction to the parties registered for the November 20 polls, asking them to use separate bank accounts and inform the commission about the focal persons who use them. The commission has also directed the parties to accept donations more than Rs25,000 only through the banking channel. The candidates are required to submit their tentative expenditure plans along with their nomination letters.

During the local level elections held on May 13, the opposition CPN-UML and several fringe parties had refused to sign the commitment letter, raising concerns including that they were not consulted while drafting the code of conduct. But this time, the parties, despite their reservations, have expressed their commitment to abide by the code.

“There are many flaws and impractical provisions which I don’t think the parties will follow even though we all have expressed our commitment to adhering to the code,” said Keshav Jha, a central executive member of the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, who represents his party at the commission’s meetings.

The new code says the parties can start electioneering only 1 in7 days before the polling date. This means although the commission will publish the final list of first-past-the-post candidates on October 12, the candidates cannot start campaigning until November 3.

Political parties and observers have termed this provision impractical but commission officials say the clause was introduced in consultation with the parties.

The Election Commission’s code of conduct published in the Nepal Gazette on August 29 says that the candidates can begin their publicity campaigns only 17 days prior to the polling date. But they will have just 15 days for canvassing as election silence begins 48 hours before the polling day.

Whatever the political parties say, once the election body publishes the final list of the FPTP candidates on October 12, they cannot wait until November 3 to start their publicity campaign, party leaders said.

But there is no proper mechanism and resources with the election body to monitor the activities of every candidate across the country. The commission will have to watch them for three weeks, which according to former chief election commissioners, is not possible with the commission’s existing strength.

It’s not that the commission has not tried to implement the code of conduct, but it has so far limited its actions to warning the political parties and candidates violating the code. This, according to observers, has encouraged candidates to ignore the code’s provisions.

There are several incidents where leaders including CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, senior Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala, Congress leader and spouse of the current prime minister Arzu Rana Deuba have openly flouted the code of conduct. However, the commission just ordered them to furnish clarifications and warned them against repeating such mistakes.

The Election Code also has several other impractical provisions, according to party leaders.

“It has restricted the number of people allowed in a party’s door-to-door campaign to 25; candidates can fly party flags only at their houses and even cadres will not be allowed to install flags at their homes; candidates cannot use party flags in public places but each party can use 10 flags each of the party, the nation and election symbol at mass rallies,” Jha told the Post. “The prime minister and ministers are not allowed to take part in publicity campaigns other than their own, which is not possible.”

Jha said these are some examples of impractical provisions which are sure to be flouted by the parties and candidates.

Of late, the Election Commission has decided to impose fines between Rs150,000 and Rs750,000 each to 123,624 candidates of local elections for failing to submit the details of their election expenditures. Unless the candidates pay the fines, they will not be allowed to contest elections for six years, according to the commission. Parties have objected to the election body’s decision, calling it “unfair”.

On Sunday, the Election Commission had invited the top leaders of all the parties for a discussion on the election code of conduct and to seek their commitments on it.

The leaders had suggested the commission make the code more practical by replacing the provisions that are difficult to implement. They had asked the commission to allot more time for publicity and allow ministers to join publicity campaigns of their parties without misusing state resources.

Former chief election commissioner Neil Kantha Upreti said there is a trend among Nepal’s parties and politicians to continue violating the code of conduct unless the election commission stops them.

“Though the commission has been making stricter codes of conduct every election, that would have no effect without a strong mechanism to implement it,” Upreti told the Post. “A political culture and good attitudes of candidates are also essential for its proper implementation.”

Proper implementation of the election code is linked to the moral standing of the political parties.

“Nepal’s elections are becoming increasingly expensive and contesting them is now beyond the reach of an ordinary candidate just because the Election Commission has failed to implement the code of conduct,” said Shyam Shrestha, a civil society leader.

Shrestha said the main aim of the code of conduct is to stop candidates from buying votes, prevent conflict among candidates, and develop a level playing field for all candidates. However, he said, the new code of conduct will fail to serve these purposes.

The major reason behind the commission’s failure to implement the code effectively is because appointments at the body are made based on power-sharing among the parties, Shrestha added.

“How can a person appointed by a political party act against it?” Shrestha questioned. “There must be a provision to appoint independent leadership at the commission so that its officials can take action against violators without coming under any external pressure.”

Meanwhile, the commission has grouped election constituencies into five categories by giving separate weightage to certain components—total number of voters [55 percent], area of the constituency [25 percent], total number of election centres [20 percent] and inflation [18 percent]—and determined the campaign expenditure ceiling.

Candidates contesting in A-category constituencies (there are five such constituencies) can spend up to Rs2.5 million; those contesting in B-category constituencies (there are 23) can spend up to Rs2.7 million; those contesting in C-category constituencies (there are 66) can spend up to 2.9 million; candidates in D-category constituencies, which are 44, can spend up to Rs3.1 million; and those in E-category constituencies, which are 27, can spend up to Rs3.3 million.

Similarly, the proposed expenditure ceiling for provincial constituencies ranges from Rs1.5 million to Rs2.3 million. Earlier in 2017 polls, the expenditure limit had been fixed at a flat Rs2.5 million for lower house constituencies and Rs1.5 million for provincial constituencies.

Although the leaders of the major political parties present during Tuesday’s discussion at the commission have accepted the categorisation and the expenditure ceilings, Chief Election Commissioner said the commission will publish the ceiling through a press conference soon.

As per the law, political parties and candidates should submit their expenditure details within 30 days of the publication of the final results of the elections.