Nepal EC rules out third phase for local polls

Nepal Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav has ruled out the possibility of holding local elections in the plains in a third phase.

Yadav told reporters that the Election Commission would not accept a third-round election at the local level.

He argued that it would be undemocratic to postpone the election date yet again, after the government has deferred it thrice already, reports the Kathmandu Post.

He added that the vote would not be rescheduled even if the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal boycotted it. As the election law has been amended, the RJP-N can take part in the polls.

The first amendment bill of the Local Level Elections Act in Nepal has paved way for the participation of the ethnic minorities in the second phase election slated for June 28.

The first phase of the historic local-level elections in Nepal was conducted on May 14. The polls are Nepal's first since the country adopted a new Constitution in September 2015.