Nepal to hold local body elections in two phases

The Nepal government will hold local body elections in two phases - on May 14 and June 14 in different parts of the country, a government spokesman said yesterday.A Cabinet meeting decided to hold the first round of elections in provinces of numbers 3, 4 and 6 and second round of elections in provinces of numbers 1, 2, 5 and 7 on May 14 and June 14, respectively.“Local body elections will be held in two phases,” government spokesman Surendra Kumar Karki said, adding that this has generated a new hope among the people, ending a long political impasse.Elections will be held in altogether 744 local units of Nepal that include four metropolitan cities, 13 sub-metropolitan cities, 246 municipal and 481 village councils, according to the election commission.A month earlier, the government had said that the local body elections would be held in a single phase only on May 14.However, the government decided to hold elections in two phases after the disgruntled Madhes-based ethnic parties recently agreed to participate in the local body elections who have been protesting against the government to seek amendments in the constitution.A new deal was struck between the government and the Madhes-based ethnic parties on Saturday ensuring their participation in the local body elections.According to the spokesman, the government will soon forward a revised constitution amendment bill in parliament for its approval in order to address demands raised by the Madhes-based ethnic parties.The local body elections should have been held in every five years in Nepal. Due to political instability, they have been halted since May 1997.A large amount of government budget goes to local level but due to the lack of accountable and elected bodies, the money is said to be often misused.It is mandatory for Nepal to hold three-tier election - local, provincial, centre, within January next year under the new constitutional provisions.