Kathmandu : Officiating Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ram Prasad Bhandari appealed to all media outlets not to conduct any form of opinion polls ahead of the March 5 election to House of Representatives.
CEC Bhandari made the appeal while addressing a programme organized by the Election Commission here today to mark the 10th Election Day.
Bhandari reminded that since the Election Code of Conduct prohibits opinion polls, action will be taken against those who violate it.
He also underscored the need for heightened vigilance during the election period, noting that misinformation can easily spread with false news presented as true and vice versa.
Calling upon supporters of political parties to work towards conducting the election by complying with the Election Code of Conduct, he emphasized that they should refrain from defaming others through social media.
“Let us work based on truth and facts. As social media has become a sensitive issue during election, let us be careful while using it,” he requested.
Appealing to the voters, he urged them to elect the right representatives without succumbing to pressure or undue influence.
During his speech, he shared that a security meeting has been convened to devise election related security policies and strategies for the successful conduct of the election.
Furthermore, he cautioned that the Office of Election Officer in the respective districts could take action against that running election campaign in violation of the Election Code of Conduct.
The Commission also reminded election observers to perform only the duties assigned to them.
He requested all involved, including volunteer educators engaged in voter education, staff assigned to the election process, security personnel and everyone associated, to work in a way that encourages maximum voter turnout and ensures that all cast votes are counted.
Officiating Chief Election Commissioner Bhandari emphasised that even a small mistake in elections can lead to major problems, so it is necessary to work attentively with high morale.
Commission Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut stated that election officials are being appointed and trained for the elections on March 5 in each district.
He also said that the Commission is providing many subjects related to electoral education through its website and the official social media pages of the commission. Secretary Raut informed that work is being carried out to educate voters in all 6,743 wards across the country.
Raut added that to make the elections transparent, this time the commission has passed the expenditure management procedure and mandated that political parties and candidates must also open separate accounts for election purposes.
Commission’s Joint Secretary and Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said that to commemorate the first election in Nepal on 7th Falgun 2015 BS (18 February 1959), the Commission started celebrating Election Day from 7th Falgun 2073 (18 February 2017).
He stated that the commission started celebrating this day every year on 7th of the Falgun month to commemorate the day when citizens voted for the first time and became sovereign.
