Nepal EC to PM Oli: ready to hold polls if laws ready

Nepal's Election Commission today told Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli that the constitutional body would be ready to hold elections at the local, provincial and federal levels if the government prepares necessary laws on time.

Oli visited the commission office to take stock of its functioning including preparations for the elections.

"He asked us about overall preparations for the upcoming elections," the Himalayan Times quoted Election Commission Joint-Secretary Bir Bahadur Rai as saying.

"The Commissioners here requested him to expedite procedures to formulate laws necessary for the polls," he added.

Meanwhile, Oli's press coordinator Chetan Adhikari said that the Commissioners expressed readiness to conduct the elections if the government announced dates for them.

He added that a team led-by Oli had asked the Commission if they had prepared timetables for preparations of the polls.

Though no specific date has formally been announced for the election, the government has been saying that it would hold local bodies' elections by mid-December.