Historical Background — Election Commission of Nepal

Election Commission

The first Election Commission was first established in 1950 in Nepal. After the end of 104 years of the autocratic Rana regime in 1950, the Nepal Interim Governance Bill was introduced. It was Nepal's second constitution in writing, prepared by the erstwhile ministerial cabinet. (The populist document, Government of Nepal Act, 1994 promulgated by Rana Prime Minister Padhma Shamsher, may be called the first constitution of Nepal.) It was the responsibility of the 1950 interim government to hold the parliamentary election at the earliest and in a conducive atmosphere. To fulfill the objective, the Election Commission was formed, vesting it with the rights to carry out certain responsibilities:

Preparing the voters' list
Control and supervision of the election related activities
Conduction of Elections
Settle Election related disputes
Run Election Court

The Election Commission was headed by the Chief Election Commissioner and other office bearers, whose appointment and tenure were likely to be affected by the decision of the King or of the cabinet. The voters' list was directed to be free of any caste, religious or gender discrimination. One had to be at least 21 years of age to be eligible to vote.

1958 saw the establishment of multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy in the country. Prime Minister BP Koirala was arrested from a meeting where he was addressing the crowd. King Mahendra charged the leaders of being incompetent and took over, holding complete sway for two years and ruled without a constitution. With the changes in the political scenario, a new constitution draft commission was formed in 1962, which came in the wake of the dissolution of the multiparty system in 1960. The constitution was amended in 1966 through a royal decree. For the first time, certain offices were brought under the constitution, while the Election Commission was declared an independent body. It was decided that Nepal would have a single election commission. Appointments could be determined according to the King's directive, which clearly vested the decisions of the commission, with the King.

The political scenario in Nepal saw another change in 1989. 30 years of party-less Panchayat system formed by King Mahendra ended with the people's movement that called for democracy. In 1990, under a multi-party system, a cabinet headed by Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was formed. On November 19, 1990, King Birendra declared the Constitution of Nepal 2019. According to it, certain constitutional bodies were restructured, the Election Commission being among them. However, the Chief election Commissioner would continue to be appointed by the King, upon recommendation of the Constitutional bodies.

Nepal was to see rampant political changes in the decade that followed. The reign of King Birendra was eclipsed with the beginning of the Maoist insurgency. The King refused to deploy the national army against the rebels. On June 1, 2001, the Royal Family massacre took place. None of the members of King Birendra's family survived the shootout, which automatically made King Birendra's younger brother Gyanendra, the new King of Nepal. On May 22, 2002, King Gyanendra dissolved the House of Representatives, and declared mid-term elections. The election however, did not materialize and on October 4, 2002, King Gyanendra sacked then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, alleging him of 'incompetence'.

Without a parliament or a Prime Minister, King Gyanendra held full sway in appointing or displacing the members of his own formed cabinet. On February 1, 2005, King Gyanendra assumed powers of the state in a bloodless coup. To overthrow the King's grip, the 7 political parties alliance, which had earlier been vocal against the Maoists, joined hands as 8 parties and declared People's movement II. After weeks of protests and bloodshed, on April 24, 2006, King relinquished power to the people. According to the 16 point and 8 point understanding between the 7 parties and the Maoists, the interim constitution was drafted on August 25, 2006. Article 133 of section 15 of the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063 is devoted to the Election Commission. According to it:

The commission will have one Chief Election Commissioner and four other Election Commissioners
The Prime Minister will appoint the Commissioners on the basis of recommendations made by Constitutional Council/ Cabinet
Their tenure will be of 6 years from the date of appointment
Abiding by the Interim Constitution and other legal boundaries, the Election Commission will be responsible for conducting, supervising, directing and controlling Constituent Assembly Election and the Local bodies election.
The voters list for the Elections will be prepared by the election commission.
The Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063 (2006-07) recommends the Election commission as an independent body, responsible for holding free and fair elections.

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