The Election Commission has called an all-party meeting on Friday to discuss the local elections with the political parties prior to its consultation with the government.

“The election law requires the commission to advise the government on future action,” said Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Thapaliya. “We are discussing with the political parties on the course of advice to present before the government.”

According to the commission, it has sent invites to 16 political parties representing federal, state and local levels to attend the meeting.

The agenda of the meeting is to take stock of the preparations for the National Assembly election and to check the updated voter list, said Thapaliya.

The election of 19 vacant members of the National Assembly will be held on January 26. Currently, the commission is implementing the code of conduct related to the election.

Similarly, the term of office of local level officials is coming to an end on May 19 2022.

According to the Local Level Election Act, the election must be held two months before the end of the term; however, the constitution stipulates that elections must be held within six months of the end of the term.

The commission has proposed the government hold local level elections in a single phase on April 27. If the government wishes to hold in two phases the government has suggested holding the polls on April 27 and May 5.

Meanwhile, the government has not made any decision in this regard. In a meeting with the officials of the commission, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had informed that the date of the election would be fixed only after discussions with the parties.