Dedicated to Daniel Pearl

Finally, the Election Commission in Nepal on Friday cleared the hazy cloud on Constituent Assembly elections and said it can’t conduct the CA polls on June 20. Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel in fact made it easy for the political parties to postpone the elections. It was already known to all that elections can’t be held at such situation. Maoists haven’t yet changed their behavior, they are still continuing extortion, intimidation and abduction across the country. The election commission has over a dozen tasks pending. It has to prepare number of things for the polls like setting up of its offices around the country for elections, it will also have to provide necessary training to those officers who are deployed for elections.  CEC  Pokharel is justified in saying that the commission can’t conduct on June 20 because the party registration process alone hasn’t been completed. It may take some one week more for the parties to register themselves for CA polls. The entire process is sure to push the possibility of holding the polls.

The most important thing I feel is that the voters should be prepared for elections. Almost all voters in Nepal aren’t prepared for elections. There is not the election atmosphere in villages. The parties need some two months to make the people ready for the polls. Considering all the pending tasks, I think it will be better to announce the polls for Kartik or Mangsir; some five to six months later.