With the election date approaching, the Sushila Karki government is working to win the trust of major political parties and make the polls a success.

On Friday, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Jagadish Kharel held separate meetings with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli, and Nepali Communist Party coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

Speaking to journalists after the meetings, Minister Kharel said that leaders of all the three parties had no disagreement to the March 5 elections though they were concerned about the election environment. Mainly Deuba and Oli reiterated their security concerns.

According to Kharel, Deuba said that his party was fully prepared for the elections. He made it clear that Congress’s priority is elections, not the reinstatement of the House of Representatives.

“The Congress president has clearly said that his party’s priority is elections,” Kharel said. However, Deuba also asked the government to ensure that elections are held on time and to create a secure environment.

According to Kharel, Nepali Communist Party coordinator Dahal also said that there is no alternative to elections under the current circumstances. Dahal, he said, stressed that the elections must be held on March 5 at any cost and expressed his party’s full commitment to supporting the government to ensure a successful election.

During the meeting, Oli said that as a democratic party that respects the people’s mandate, the UML would not shy away from elections. However, Kharel said Oli stressed that security guarantees must be ensured. Oli stressed that the government must create an environment where voters can cast their ballots without fear and parties can participate freely.

Oli, who was ousted as the prime minister on September 9 on the second day of the Gen Z protest, sought security guarantees from the government. He had also questioned, how can the election be held in a free and fair environment when he has been barred from leaving the Kathmandu Valley.

To Oli’s question of how an election happens by imposing restrictions, Kharel said, “There are some challenges around us. There are issues that need to be eased out. We are aware that the government must create the environment to make the elections possible and we are working to this effect,” he said.

The then prime minister Oli and Nepali Congress leader Ramesh Lekhak, who was home minister during the Gen Z protests, have been barred from leaving the Kathmandu Valley as investigations continue into their alleged role in the brutal crackdown of the protests.

Minister Kharel reiterated that the government is committed to creating a secure environment and holding free and fair elections on the scheduled date. Saying that the meetings with top leaders had further encouraged him, he urged the public to remain assured that the elections will be held on March 5.

He said the government has intensified preparations in coordination with the Election Commission and security agencies. Kharel said his visits to different leaders in their residences are part of the government’s move to create an election-friendly environment.

During his meeting with Kharel, Dahal had reiterated that there was no alternative to elections. Addressing a function after the meeting, Dahal claimed that even as the petitions were filed in the Supreme Court seeking House reinstatement, such an outcome would not be possible.

“We must move forward unitedly towards the elections. I am confident that starting now even the Congress and the UML will be fully focused on elections,” he said.

Also, the Election Commission has claimed that the questions whether the elections will take place has become illogical now. Addressing a press conference on Friday, Officiating Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari urged one and all not to harbour any doubt about whether the election will be held on time.

“The commission has already moved beyond the debate over whether the election will take place or not. The election will be held on schedule,” he said. “The commission is moving forward with integrity and determination. We have already completed most of the preparation.”

The Karki government is working with a strategy to continuously engage with the political parties until the elections are held successfully. “I met with cross leadership today (Friday). Such engagements will be held at the prime ministerial level in the coming days,” said Kharel.

The government has further intensified interactions with major political parties at a time when lawmakers from the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML–the first and second largest parties in the dissolved House of Representatives–have moved the Supreme Court seeking restoration of the dissolved House causing confusion in the public about the prospect of elections on March 5.