The Election Commission has proposed reducing its five-member structure, including the chief election commissioner, to three members, in recommendations sent to a government task force preparing constitutional amendments.

Article 245 of the Constitution provides for a chief election commissioner and four commissioners. Officiating Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said the proposed restructuring is aimed at modernising and streamlining the institution.

The task force, led by prime minister’s chief political adviser Asim Shah, had sought suggestions from the Commission as part of its work on drafting constitutional amendments.

“We have suggested making the commission lean and agile,” Bhandari told the Post. “This will reduce the state’s financial burden and make the institution more efficient.”

The commission has been operating for over a year with one officiating chief and two commissioners. Bhandari said the body could function effectively with a three-member structure comprising a chief election commissioner and two commissioners.

Under the proposal, the three members would include experts in administration, law and information technology. The recommendation was endorsed through a Commission meeting before being formally submitted.

Separately, the commission has proposed that the authority to fix election dates for the House of Representatives, provincial assemblies and local levels be explicitly written into the constitution. It currently shares this function with the government. It has also recommended making the regulation and management of political parties a constitutional responsibility of the commission.

The commission has further proposed reducing the size of elected bodies. It suggests the House of Representatives be downsized to 105 members, including 77 elected through the first-past-the-post system and 28 through proportional representation, with one constituency per district.

It has also proposed reducing the 59-member National Assembly to 30 members and scrapping proportional representation in provincial assemblies. Bhandari said the aim was to make federal and provincial legislatures “lean, agile and relevant”.

Other proposals include allowing the National Assembly chairperson to concurrently serve as vice president, and permitting the prime minister to appoint ministers from outside Parliament without requiring them to become members within six months.

The commission has also recommended dissolving district coordination committees and making local elections non-partisan. It further proposes restructuring ward committees in rural municipalities and municipalities with a chairperson and two ward members.

On electoral eligibility, the commission has suggested lowering the minimum age for candidates for the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies from 25 to 21 years, and reducing the minimum age for National Assembly candidates from 35 to 30 years.

It has also proposed lowering the minimum age for appointment to constitutional bodies to 40 years, from the current requirement of 45 years.

The Cabinet formed a task force to prepare a discussion paper on constitutional amendments on March 30 under Asim Shah, the prime minister’s chief political adviser.