‘EC working on war footing to manage logistics for polls’

Kathmandu, Apr. 21: Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Ayodhi Prasad Yadav Friday urged the government to hold dialogue with various political parties that are agitating against the election and create a better environment for the local election.

"The Election Commission is working on a war footing to manage the logistics for the polls. Ballot papers have already been printed and sent to the districts. Similarly, the voters' list is ready and voter identity cards have also been printed," he said while addressing a seminar on 'Coverage of election news in the mass media' here.

He said that the environment for the polls had been created as 83 political parties were registered with the ECN.

Dr. Yadav expressed the optimism that the Terai-based parties would also join the election campaign soon.

Earlier, he had said that the voter identity cards would be distributed from May 12, two day before the Election Day.

The CEC urged the journalists to promote women, Dalit candidates and those from the marginalised community.

"I am grateful to the media for its help in creating awareness among the people and creating an environment for the election. Had there been no media, progress towards holding the election would not have been achieved," he said.

However, he urged the media to be non-partisan and objective while covering the election and campaign of the political parties.

The seminar was jointly organised by the Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Tribhuvan University and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

JICA chief representative in Nepal Jun Sakuma said that the agency would provide continuous support for the development of the media sector in Nepal.

Keniichi Hashimoto, senior advisor of JICA, suggested journalists develop stories on voter education, comparison of party manifestos, profiles of candidates, local political landscape, human ties and competition.

Similarly, Toshiyuki Sato of Public Broadcasters International said that it was not wise for a journalist to identify himself with a certain candidate, give his own opinion and provide unbalanced reporting.

Professor at the Department Chiranjibi Khanal said that journalists should create equidistance with all the political parties and candidates and free themselves from any kind of prejudice, including ethnocentrism.