Hundreds of complaints. Seventy-nine clarifications. And zero action. This is the Election Commission’s one-month report card on implementing the election code of conduct aimed at maintaining election sanctity and decency.

The constitutional election management body, on January 19, enforced the code of conduct targeted for the March 5 elections. It was brought into force after different rounds of discussions with the political parties participating in the March 5 polls. The commission also sought public feedback before giving it a final shape.

However, 35 days since its implementation, the commission has done nothing except seek clarifications from those allegedly involved in breaching election norms. The commission has issued as many as 79 letters seeking written justification from individuals and institutions. Of them, nine have been asked to furnish clarifications twice, following the complaints that they violated the code of conduct more than once.

For instance, Ashika Tamang, a Rastriya Swatantra Party candidate from Dhading-1, was first asked to furnish clarification for conducting an election campaign in a school. Ten days later, she was allegedly found using school children in campaigning. And the commission sought another clarification. Her justifications on both occasions are not satisfactory, as per the commission’s report. She has been asked to clarify again.

Likewise, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Nepali Communist Party candidate from Jajarkot, allegedly distributed money during his election campaign. He has also been asked to write a clarification again, saying the first one was unclear. A commission’s report shows that it has spent its time repeatedly seeking clarifications, with no action.

“Our job is to seek clarifications and present them before the commissioners to penalise them when their clarifications are not convincing. We are not sure why they are hesitant to take action as per the code of conduct and other laws,” said a senior official at the commission.

The code of conduct prescribes a fine of up to Rs100,000 or the cancellation of candidacies if candidates are found to have violated it. In addition, the commission can even bar them from contesting elections for up to six years. Along with election laws, other laws are in place to hold accountable those who do not adhere to election norms. For instance, the Children’s Act completely bans the use of children in the polls. Section 66 of the Act has categorised it as an offence against children.

Not just in electioneering, but also in other areas, the political parties and candidates have been ignoring the code of conduct and the commission’s directives.

In defiance of the commission’s directive, 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.

The commission had asked all parties contesting the elections to make their manifestos public by February 15, before commencing full-fledged campaigning from the next day. However, 37 of the 68 parties didn’t abide. However, despite announcing that it would take action against the defiants, the commission has not even sought clarifications from them.

Likewise, a majority of the fast-past-the-post candidates remained indifferent to the commission’s directive to open new bank accounts for campaigns related to financial activities by February 15. However, only 671 candidates among the total 3,406 candidates had their new accounts ready by the deadline. The commission has strictly asked parties to conduct transactions above Rs25,000 from their bank accounts. However, it has taken no action against those who openly disobeyed its order.

Sagun Shumsher J.B. Rana, a member of the commission who leads the central code of conduct monitoring committee, claimed that they are all prepared to take the necessary actions whenever required. “We are still studying the clarifications and gathering evidences for further actions,” he told the Post. “However, we also need to recognise the fact that the incidents of code of conduct violations have decreased compared to the previous polls.”

The poll observers disagree with the claim. “It is wrong to say the number of incidents has decreased. Earlier, they were dominant in physical, and now they have been shifted to social media, which is even more dangerous,” Gopal Krishna Siwakoti, chair of the National Election Observation Committee. “Taking action after all the harms are done makes no sense. The commision has to take punitive actions in some emblematic cases before elections.” Only 10 days remain until the March 5 polls.

Shree Krishna Subedi, chair of the Election Observation Committee, Nepal (NEOC), said a decrease in the number of code violations can not be an excuse for not taking action in other cases. “We will wait for a couple of days. If the commission continues to absent from its duty for action, we will seek the Supreme Court’s intervention,” he said.