Nepal govt urges EC to extend close lists date

Kathmandu, Feb 21 (UNI) With a view to including the agitating Madhesi political parties in the election, the Nepal government asked the Election Commission to extend the deadline for filing the closed-list of candidates for the Constituent Assembly polls till February 24.

A cabinet meeting held this morning at Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's official residence in Baluwatar decided to urge the EC to extend the closed-list submission deadline so as not to affect the CA polls slated for April 10, local media reports said quoting the official as saying.

Earlier, the EC had fixed the deadline for the submission of the closed-list of candidates under the PR system for until 5 pm (local time) yesterday and till that time, a total of 37 political parties including all the major parties represented in Parliament had submitted the list.

The recently formed Madhesi parties have not submitted the list of candidates as the parties have been demonstrating in various districts of Terai.

Following the government's request, the EC today extended the deadline to February 24 for submitting the closed list of candidates for proportional voting system.

Meanwhile, Mr Koirala has reiterated his commitment to hold the CA elections on April 10 for peace and stability.

He said, while inaugurating the consultative conference of donor agencies in Kathmandu, ''I am committed to hold the CA elections, as democracy is vital for peace and stability and election is vital for democracy.'' Mr Koirala also urged the foreign countries to assist in holding the polls on schedule date.

Around 150 representatives of nearly 50 donor agencies are participating in the conference.

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