Nepal election unlikely in June

Elections to the Constituent Assembly scheduled in mid-June are likely to be delayed until November due to technical glitches

Elections to the Constituent Assembly scheduled in mid-June are likely to be delayed until November due to technical glitches, Election Commission officials told ENS on Thursday. This despite the Maoists and the Madhav Kumar Nepal-headed Communist Party’s insistence that any delay in holding the polls would allow the palace to exploit the situation in its favour.

Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokhrel said that while a consensus exists at the political level on holding elections by Mid-June, sufficient personnel and machinery will not be ready by that time. He said at least 140,000 officials excluding the security staff would be required, which another senior official said the government is unable to depute. The Election Commission has also not been able to finalise the voter list.

The cabinet meeting on Thursday appointed a constitution delimitation commission headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court to decide around 110 new constituencies to ensure more representation to the Terai region. The commission, which has initially been given a month’s time to decide on the constituencies, will be another factor that will delay the election, sources said.

King to lose cooks, waiters and servants

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KATHMANDU: Nepal’s government will withdraw hundreds of King Gyanendra’s aides including cooks, waiters, clerks and the queen’s beauticians from the palace, a minister said on Thursday.

Some 774 staff have been removed which include servants who plucked flowers for prayers conducted by the king and his family members, Queen Komal’s hairdressers and palace photographers apart from clerks, secretaries and accountants. This has cut down the royal staff to a quarter of its current size.

Half the staff will be dismissed while the remaining would retire under a voluntary scheme, Information Minister Dilendra Badu said after a cabinet meeting.

The cabinet also decided to retire about 50 palace staff, who have reached the retirement age of 60. Half of the remaining staff will be transferred to other posts bringing them under the local administration.

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