- monitoring elections, as well as registering parties and candidates and reporting election outcomes, in Nepal
- It was born out of the 1950 revolution in Nepal and was established in law in 1951, although it has been changed somewhat by law over time
- It has six members who serve for six-year terms, as established by the Interim Constitution of Nepal
Duties
- The commission's responsibilities are many
- Among other things, it is in charge of conducting elections
- This includes monitoring elections
- the commission also has the power to postpone them
- The commission receives funding from the Danish International Development Agency for assistance in monitoring elections
- In the race for the Nepalese Constituent Assembly, the commission oversaw approximately 10,000 polling places, 10,000 candidates, and 234,000 election workers
- It requires candidates to take its own specified oath of office
- It also oversees the political parties registered in elections
- all parties must register with the commission, or they cannot run
- Parties are also required to submit their list of candidates for review, and the commission releases the final list of people running for office
- In 2008, in the race for the Constituent Assembly, 55 parties registered candidates for seats in the assembly, and 7 parties registered a candidate for all 335 available seats
- The commission also reports on election outcomes
History
- The year 1950 was important in the history of Nepal: in that year, the Rana dynasty, which had controlled the government for more than 100 years, was overthrown
- The coup d'état marked Nepal's first attempt at democracy; one of the primary goals of the revolution was to eventually establish the Nepalese Constituent Assembly
- The democratic experiment was short-lived; in less than ten years, King Mahendra dissolved the government in favor of the Panchayat system
- However, another major accomplishment was the establishment of the National Election Commission in 1951
- The commission was declared by law to be independent of the government in 1966
- This has been confirmed by Nepal's interim constitution in 2007
Composition
- It has five members, consisting of the Chief Election Commissioner and four others
- The members serve for 6 years
- In order to enforce its election guidelines, the commission employs a group of around 240,000 officials, mostly civil servants, to monitor elections
- When the commission was established, the members were chosen by the King
- In 1989, King Birendra's constitution declared that the Chief Election Commissioner would still be appointed by the king, but the others would not
- The interim constitution further amended the body's composition in 2006
- all five members were made under appointment of the Prime Minister
Criticism
- The commission came under some criticism during the Constituent Assembly elections for failing to enforce the code of conduct during elections
- It also failed to fully educate voters about the election
- However, it was acknowledged to have helped the elections run smoothly overall
Address:
Election Commission
Kantipath, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: (977-1) 4228663
Fax: (977-1) 4229227
E-mail: info@election.gov.np
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