Valley
Ayodhee Yadav recommended as new EC chief
A meeting of the Constitutional Council on Tuesday recommended Ayodhee Prasad Yadav for the post of chief election commissioner (CEC).A meeting of the Constitutional Council on Tuesday recommended Ayodhee Prasad Yadav for the post of chief election commissioner (CEC).
Yadav, 60, was appointed election commissioner in March 2013. He had earlier served as the election commissioner for six years since 2007 before he was reappointed in 2013. During his nine years in office-when Constituent Assembly elections were held in 2008 and 2013—Yadav oversaw distribution of voter ID card, election code of conduct and other logistical issues.
A gold medallist in Economics, Yadav is a PhD from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, India. He is also the author of “Election Cost in Nepal”, “Constituent Assembly Election 2008: At a Glance” and “Voter Registration System in Nepal” among other books.
The Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee (PHSC) now has to endorse the CC recommendation before Yadav is formally appointed the new CEC. When asked about his priorities once he is formally appointed, Yadav said he would do his best to hold local body elections by 2016 and federal elections in 2017. Local bodies are running without elected representatives for more than last 13 years.
“I will also ask the government to form a constituent delineation commission as soon as possible for holding federal elections in 2017,” he said. The post of CEC was lying vacant after Neel Kantha Uprety retired. Posts of two commissioners are also lying vacant after the retirement of Dolakh Bahadur Gurung and PV Ram Bhakta Thakur.
With Yadav recommended for the post of CEC, the EC has only Ila Sharma left as the election commissioner.