Over half of the political parties contesting the March 5 elections, including Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, did not unveil their manifestos within the deadline, ignoring the Election Commission’s directive and the election code of conduct.

The commission had asked all the parties contesting the elections to make their manifestos public by Sunday before commencing their full-fledged campaigning on Monday. However, 37 of the 68 parties, including the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, didn’t comply with the directives.

The commission issued directives in accordance with the election code of conduct, which states that political parties or candidates should begin campaigning only after unveiling their manifestos and commitment papers. Section 37 of the code of conduct requires parties to submit their policy blueprints to the commission and candidates to their respective election offices.

“Only 31 parties came up with their manifestos by the deadline,” Prakash Neupane, assistant spokesperson at the commission. “This is not just an act of violating the commission’s directive, but also a blatant violation of the election code of conduct.”

Even as candidacies were registered on January 20, the commission has allotted only a 15-day window for full-fledged electioneering, which began on Monday. Contesting parties and candidates have until March 3 to campaign before the 48-hour silent period takes effect.

Commission officials said while parties were asked to submit their manifestos to the poll body, independent candidates had to submit their dossiers to the respective district or constituency election office. Officials at the commission say it is unfortunate that the established parties are ahead in code of conduct violations. The Congress is preparing to announce its commitment on Tuesday; the UML has yet to decide on a date. The Rastriya Swatantra Party has made a one-pager pledge available but hasn’t released its full, detailed manifesto.

“We will seek written clarification from all the parties who have refused to abide by the code of conduct,” said Neupane.

The commission has asked provincial and constituency election offices to maintain records of submitted manifestos and provide it with details.

As many as 68 parties are in the race for the March 5 polls. Of the total 3,406 candidates, around 1,160 are contesting for 165 first-past-the-post seats as independents, while others are party candidates. The commission has yet to determine the number of independent candidates who have not submitted their election dossiers.

Even as the commission has decided to seek clarifications, it is unclear what action will be taken against the defiants. “The commission will decide what actions to take after the clarifications are furnished,” said Neupane. Other than the code of conduct, there is no specific law requiring parties and their candidates to publish manifestos.

Not only are the parties and candidates violating the code of conduct, they are also breaching other directives issued by the poll management body. The commission had asked all candidates to open separate bank accounts for election-related transactions before campaigning began on Monday. However, only 671 candidates have their separate account opened by Monday. The commission has strictly asked parties to conduct transactions above Rs25,000 from their bank accounts.

Likewise, records at the commission show it has sought clarifications from 66 individuals and institutions since the code of conduct was enforced on January 19. However, only 32 of them have furnished written clarifications in response. Even as it has been three weeks since clarifications were sought in some cases, the commission is still undecided on what action to take.

“The commission is studying the clarifications,” said Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokespesson at the commission. “Necessary actions will be taken after studying them.”