NC CONVENES METING WITH OTHER OPPOSITION PARTIES Kathmandu, 24 Sept.: Main opposition NC has convened a meeting with opposition parties Monday to develop a common strategy. Party Spokesman Dilendra Badu said the party is attempting to create an environment for consensus. nnnna MIGRANT WORKERS MAY NOT GET VOTING RIGHTS BECAUSE OF BUDGETARY CONSTRAINT Kathmandu, 24 Sept.: Budgetary constraints may prove to be the biggest hurdle in the government’s desire to enable migrant Nepali workers to vote in the country’s general elections, Ra Kumar Kamat writes in the Himalayan Times. Election Commission had formed a committee five months ago to study how it could enable migrant workers to vote in the upcoming general elections. The committee will present its report in three weeks. Over two lakh Nepali migrant workers earn their livelihood in Gulf countries alone. EC Spokesperson Sharada Prasad Trital said Sudan could enable its 60,000 migrant workers to vote in referendum only after spending $ 460 per person. “We have already spent three billion rupees to register almost 11 million voters. We will need huge resources if we have to register our migrant workers,” Trital said. Large percentage of Nepali migrant workers work in India and the Gulf countries. Nepalis, in fact, are scattered in 192 countries. Trital said EC teams recently went to South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand to study what they did to enable their migrant workers to vote in the general elections. Of the 90 lakh Philippinos working abroad, only 27 lakh registered their names and only six lakh actually voted, according to Trital. Thailand’s experience is not much different from that of the Philippines. South Korea, however, seems ahead in providing its diaspora with right to vote but it has been able to do so only with the help of advanced technology and sufficient resources. “We are yet to officially decide how we can enable our migrant labourers to vote, but it is sure that we will have to wait for sometime before we can come up with appropriate solutions,” Trital said. Enabling migrant workers to vote in the general elections requires political consensus. Besides, the amendments to relevant laws would also be required. As per existing rules, voter registration is done on the basis of citizenship certificate. “Our migrant workers usually carry passports and if we have to enable them to vote, they should be allowed to register their names on the basis of their passports,” Trital said. He added that officials of Nepali missions needed to be trained to prepare the migrant workers’ voter registration. Nepal has its diplomatic missions only in 29 countries nnnn