Poll Process In Final Stage

The second periodic election held after the promulgation of the new constitution in 2015 has become another milestone for institutionalisation of democracy and rule of law. The Election Commission (EC) is publishing its final report of the general elections held on November 20 this year. The successful holding of general elections has not only strengthened Loktantra but also enhanced the nation's capacity to hold timely elections in a fair, fearless and peaceful manner to ensure a system to make legislations and to address the problems of the people by their elected representatives.  

The election body has made public the final list of the members elected to the House of Representatives (HoR) and Provincial Assemblies under both the First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) and proportional representation (PR) categories though the formal ceremony of officially submitting the final election results to the President is yet to be solemnised. Similarly, the final results of the Provincial Assemblies will be formally submitted to the respective Province Chiefs. The conclusion of the elections marks the achievement on the part of all concerned—the government, the EC, political parties, the candidates, general public and the voters. This democratic exercise goes a long way in strengthening the democratic system and implementing the constitution.  

A remarkable feature of these elections is that there were no major incidents of violence, disruption, coercion and irregularities. There were ample security arrangements in place despite the fact that the polls were held on a single day all over the country. According to the election body, voter turnout stood around 61 per cent. One aspect that calls for rethinking on the part of the political stakeholders is that there were very nominal numbers of women candidates and winners. The prevalence of invalid votes has also come down though slightly if it is to be compared with the May 13 local elections.  As many as 110 members are elected under the PR system to the 275-member HoR while 165 others are directly elected through the FPTP system. Likewise, out of the 550 Provincial Assembly members, 220 are chosen under the PR category while 330 are elected under FPTP procedure. As per the existing law, the EC has to submit the final list of the members elected to the HoR within seven days of the publication of the final results of the elections to the President. This official procedure paves the way for giving shape to the new government to be formed after the election. 

After the submission of the final election results, the President will then call the political parties for the formation of the new government. The parties come up with the required number of parliament members and present their claim for the formation of the government. The political parties on their part also need to elect their Parliamentary Party leader before the government formation process formally proceeds. A Parliamentary Party leader can be the candidate for the prime minister. The nation is awaiting the formation of new government which will take place in the near future.  The nation will take a new course with the formation of the new government with the fresh mandate of the electorate. It is mandate of the people expressed in the election that will form the executive for running the affairs of the nation. There is also the new sovereign parliament in place that will make laws and raise voice on behalf of the people.