KATHMANDU, Feb 21: A total of 41 political parties contesting the upcoming House of Representatives (HoR) elections have submitted their manifestos to the Election Commission (EC). At a press conference held in Kathmandu on Friday, the EC confirmed that 41 parties have formally lodged their election manifestos.
Although the EC had set a deadline of February 16 for submission, parties are still turning in their documents, according to Assistant Spokesperson Sita Pun. She noted that candidates are permitted to submit required documents at district-level election offices, and therefore the complete data has yet to be consolidated.
EC directs parties to submit manifestos by February 15
The EC also reported that ballot papers for all 165 constituencies under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system have been printed and packaged. Under the proportional representation (PR) system, ballot papers have already been dispatched to Sudurpaschim, Karnali and Koshi provinces.
In addition, EC volunteers have begun voter education campaigns using sample ballot papers prepared for the elections.
Regarding campaign financing, Election Commissioner Pun stated that, in compliance with the provision mandating dedicated bank accounts for election expenses, seven political parties and 8,867 candidates have opened such accounts so far.
