Extend deadline for filing nominations: Nepal Cabinet

Kathmandu, Feb 21: The Nepal cabinet today asked the Election Commission to extend the deadline for political parties to submit the list of their candidates for the April 10 Constituent Assembly polls.

The decision came in the wake of Madheshi parties failing to submit their list till yesterday, the last day for filing the nomination lists. The Cabinet has asked the EC to extend the deadline till February 24, Minister for Information and Communication Krishna Bahadur Mahara was quoted by the Himalayan Times as saying. He said the government was watching the situation in the Terai region.

The electoral process got underway in the Himalayan nation for the Constituent Assembly (CA) election with 38 of the 74 registered parties submitting their closed list of candidates for the proportional system of election to the Election Commission.

While the two major parties, the Nepali Congress and the UML, submitted their lists late yesterday afternoon, the CPN (Maoist) submitted its list with party chairman Prachanda leading a procession of slogan shouting cadres.

All the major parties, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and the pro-royalist RPP (N) submitted lists of 335 candidates.

However, none of the agitating Madhesi factions, including the Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party, the MPRF (Yadav), the Rajendra Mahato-led Sadbhawana Party and Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) turned up to file their nominations.

UNI