Release Poll Expenses

More than five weeks have passed since the second local elections were held as per the Constitution of Nepal, 2015. Fair, free and peaceful elections are the key to strengthening democracy and institutionalising government institutions. Elections in the country, however, seem to have been a costly affair, with political parties and their candidates spending a lot of money while canvassing. This type of trend may lead to various social and political anomalies. After being elected, they are more likely to get involved in making money instead of serving the people. In a bid to check extravagant electoral expenses, the Election Commission (EC) had introduced a poll code of conduct for the political parties, their candidates and independent contenders. The poll code was in compliance with election laws that require each of candidates to submit details of their electoral campaign expense to the respective provincial or district election office within 30 days of the announcement of election results.

But many candidates belonging to various political parties as well as independent contestants have still failed to furnish their expense specifics to the concerned offices. This type of delay or negligence on the part of such candidates has prompted the EC to instruct the district election offices to send the details of such persons to it immediately. Upon receiving their details, the election body aims to initiate legal action against them. The EC had fixed a ceiling of Rs. 750,000 for each candidate contesting mayoral and deputy mayoral posts of a metropolis. The expense limit was put at Rs. 550,000 for mayor and deputy mayoral competitors in a sub-metropolis. Mayoral and deputy mayoral contestants in municipalities had to limit their poll expenses up to Rs. 450,000 while the candidates of chairperson and deputy chairperson of rural municipalities could spend up to Rs. 350,000.

Similarly, the candidates vying for ward chairpersons and members of metropolis, sub-metropolis, municipalities and rural municipalities were allowed to spend Rs. 300,000, Rs. 250,000, Rs. 200,000 and Rs. 150,000, respectively. The expenditure limit for the chief and deputy chief of the District Coordination Committee (DCC) was put at Rs. 50,000 while the members were permitted to spend only up to Rs. 25,000. Laws have made it mandatory for all the candidates contesting the aforementioned positions to file an accurate account of their poll expenses at the EC on time. In accordance with Section 26 of the Election Commission Act, candidates defying the laws by going beyond the expense ceilings will have to pay a fine equal to the amount spent or the amount equivalent to the threshold whichever is bigger. There is also a legal provision that any elected representative who fails to submit his/her poll expense details shall be prevented from contesting the next election.

According to a news report carried by this daily on Monday, a majority of elected representatives in 11 local levels of Gorkha district have not submitted the details of their election expenditures to the district election office. Of the total of 2,022 elected representatives in the district, 1,032 have not submitted the expense details. Meanwhile, only one-fourth of the candidates in Dolakha district have sent their poll expense details to the EC as of now. This kind of apathy shows that even the elected representatives are not serious about abiding by laws. This will taint their image as people’s representatives. The EC must take this issue seriously and act accordingly to ensure fairness in the elections and promote good governance at the local level.