Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that his government has no intention to curtail the Election Commission’s autonomy. He said the government did not want to scrap the district election offices, but was just managing them differently, to cut costs.

The government, through its budget for the fiscal year 2023-2024, had announced that the district election offices would be scrapped and the election-related work would be conducted by a small unit at the respective district administration offices. The constitutional body has been objecting to the announcement, arguing that bringing the district election offices under the district administration offices will undermine its autonomy.

A team from the commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Thapaliya met Dahal as well as other ministers on Friday to put across their discontent over the provision in the national budget. At the meeting, Dahal claimed that the government was trying to manage the district election offices in a new way to ease the burden on the state coffers, according to the commission. “The government will move ahead as per the suggestions from the Election Commission. Nothing that will undermine the freedom, autonomy and jurisdiction of the commission will be done,” Dahal was quoted in a statement by the commission.

In the meeting, the Thapaliya-led team had argued that it was not just amazed but also was suspicious of the government’s announcement. “The chief election commissioner said the government shouldn’t be taking any steps that will question the impartiality of the commission,” said the statement. The commission has warned that it will be forced to seek legal remedies to safeguard its autonomy and jurisdiction if the government doesn’t backtrack from its decision.

The government now plans to have only one employee as a focal person of the election body at the district administration office. All other staff positions of the district election office will be scrapped. Currently, the commission has 70 district election offices and offices in all seven provinces.

The commission also held meetings with leaders of various parties on Friday itself. Talking to the Post, Shaligram Sharma Poudel, the commission spokesman, said all parties were unanimous that bringing the district election offices under the district administration offices was unconstitutional. “The representatives of all the parties voiced against the provision in the budget. We expect the government to rectify it,” Poudel told the Post. The leaders said they were of the view that it would be wrong to bring the district election offices under district administration offices.

“Our party is clear that the district election offices cannot come under district administration offices. The government should withdraw the provision from the budget,” said Jeevan Pariyar, Nepali Congress’ deputy general secretary. The party’s general secretary, Gagan Thapa, in his address to Parliament on Wednesday, too had objected to the government’s plan.

The commission, in the all-party meeting, also informed that it was in a last leg to finalise an umbrella bill for the election law which has provisions like ‘No Vote’ and allowing Nepalis living abroad to cast their votes. “The commission will, most probably, approve the bill and forward it to the Home Ministry, on Sunday. Whether the bill gets endorsed with the provisions we have incorporated or gets revised, will depend on the government and the federal parliament,” said Poudel.