Silence period violator to be fined Rs. 25,000

By TRN Online, Kathmandu, Nov. 17: The Election Commission is to slap a fine of Rs. 25,000 on anyone violating the silence period of the election.

The silence period is starting from today midnight.

Speaking at the press meeting held at EC today, Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya instructed the monitoring committee of the Election Code of Conduction (C0C) to implement the CoC effectively and strictly.

He said an individual who violates the silence period will be fined Rs. 25,000.

A period of 48 hours before the day of the election is defined as a silence period according to Election (Offences and Punishment) Act, 2007.

Nobody should carry out publicity, rallies, or meeting for and against any political parties or candidates with the aim to vote or not vote for the concerned candidates or parties starting 48 hours prior to the election and until the election is over.

CEC Thapaliya said that the preparations for the November 20 election have been completed.

Arrangements have been for 18.8 million 79 thousand and 570 voters to cast votes from 10,892 polling stations across the country.

He said 141 temporary voting centers have been set up for 450 thousand of voters to cast votes.

Similarly, the EC has said that there are 2,412 candidates under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system for the House of Representatives (HoR) while there are 2,199 candidates in the closed list of HoR under the Proportional Representation (PR) system.

With regard to Provincial Assembly (PA), there are 3,214 candidates under FPTP system and 3,708 under the PR system.

A total of 7,219 individuals, both domestic and international, have taken permission for the observation of the election. 246,960 election officials including security personnel have reached the polling stations, according to the EC.