Nepal Government making bid to postpone next month elections: Sources

The Nepal Government, led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, is making a bid to postpone the elections for which it has been lobbying and making internal preparations, sources confirmed to ANI.

With the preparations going on in full swing for the elections slated for November 26 and December 7, the government is trying to postpone it by pushing back the missing constitutional deadline.

"The government is making a bid to postpone the election, with two communist parties making its way for unification and contesting the election in co-operation. The prime minister has a fear of losing the seats for which he is making attempts to postpone the elections," sources in the government informed.

The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and the Maoist Centre made the announcement to go for the polls together and get unified, after the conclusion of election to choose the provincial council and the house of representatives in two phases. With the Maoist Centre willing to align with the (CPN-UML), Prime Minister Deuba is intending to reshuffle the cabinet.

But one of the chairing ministers of the Deuba government denies any chance of changes in the polls date, as well as the government.

"The incumbent government has announced the date, realising the preparations for the election and have not thought over it. The talks over the polls postponement and reshuffling of the cabinet is not true and we are not informed regarding it," the Minister of Labour and Employment, Farmullah Mansoor, told ANI over phone.

Regarding the move, Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki under Deuba's leadership has met President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and discussed about the government motives.

The government is intending to postpone the election by some months pushing it to June or July as the geographical difficulties in the Himalayan regions prevail, the source added.

The Election Commission, on the other side, has been warning the government to not take any steps that hinders the commencement of the election.

In a release, about the start of election training in Dhulikhel, Hill station near Kathmandu, the Chief Election Commissioner, Dr. Ayodhi Prasad Yadav, has said, "I request the Government of Nepal to not make any unpleasant decision during the last hours of election also not to let any obnoxious events or incidents take place."

The upcoming two-tier elections is expected to bring stability to the national politics, but the current lobbying by the government now has threatened it.