he Election Commission has sent its legal recommendations to the Ministry of Home Affairs suggesting necessary amendments to existing laws to grant voting rights to Nepalis residing overseas.

According to Commission Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, the recommendation was submitted to legally pave the way for such amendments. To ensure voting rights for Nepali citizens living abroad, the government is preparing to amend the Voters’ Roll Act, the Election Offenses and Punishment Act, the Election Commission Act, and the House of Representatives Election Act.

“The Home Ministry had sought the Commission’s opinion on the legal provisions. We have provided recommendations specifying the appropriate legal terms and clauses,” Bhattarai told Sajhakatha.

Although the legal process has begun, Bhattarai noted that the government must carry out additional work to address the practical aspects of implementation.

“The law does not specify operational modalities or estimated costs,” he said. “The Commission has, however, given a positive opinion regarding the legal framework.”

With this, the government can now bring an ordinance to amend existing laws to grant voting rights to Nepalis living abroad, if it chooses to move forward.

The Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Election Commission, and the Policy Research Institute are currently working to draft necessary amendments and policy directives to enable voting rights for Nepalis abroad.

The Home Ministry stated that further discussions are ongoing regarding the technical draft submitted by the Election Commission, which proposes allowing Nepalis abroad to vote under the proportional representation system.

Officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs said the government is exploring the possibility of initiating overseas voting, at least in a few selected countries, during the upcoming House of Representatives elections on March 5 (Falgun 21). However, decisions regarding which countries to begin with and what modality to adopt are yet to be finalized.

Nevertheless, if the government decides to proceed, the ordinance route is now open for amending the laws. The Home Ministry had requested the Election Commission’s legal opinion as part of its preparations for such an ordinance.

Since the House of Representatives currently stands dissolved, any amendment to the laws must be introduced through an ordinance.

The formal announcement of the Nepali Communist Party has been made. The unification was declared during a program held at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Similarly, a proposal to appoint Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ as the coordinator and Madhav Kumar Nepal as the co-coordinator of the party has been passed.

Leader Mahendra Raya Yadav had proposed the appointment of the coordinator and co-coordinator, which was approved by the assembly.

Various communist factions came together on Wednesday to announce the formation of the new party.

CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Ram Kumari Jhakri has announced that her journey with the party has come to an end.

Speaking at a press conference in Kathmandu today, Jhakri , who is also one of the founding leaders of the Unified Socialist, said that the party has now been dissolved and, consequently, their journey has concluded.

Although the Unified Socialist, under the leadership of Madhav Kumar Nepal, decided to merge with the CPN (Maoist Centre), Jhakri, Kishan Shrestha, and several others expressed disagreement with the decision.

Sharing her views at the press conference, Jhakri said that when the party split from the CPN-UML to form the Unified Socialist, they had envisioned a powerful movement, but that possibility has now vanished.

“In the early days of forming the CPN (Unified Socialist), we had joined with the belief that we would launch a strong movement, but that did not happen,” she said. “Our journey with the Socialist Party ended along with the dissolution of that party.”

Before Jhakri spoke, another Unified Socialist leader, Kishan Shrestha, had stated that they were unconditionally returning to the CPN-UML.

He said, “We don’t want anything. It’s enough if our old home welcomes us back with a smile and treats us with respect.”