CHIEF JUSTICE REGMI INSTALLED BREAKING NEWS Kathmandu, 14 March: Chief Justice Khila Raj Regmi was installed as chief of an interim election council by President Dr.. Yadav Thursday. who administered the oath of office and secrecy in the presence of the diplomatic community.. Maoist Chairman Prachanda, NC President Sushil Koirala, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and top officials were also present. MORE EC FACES TOUGHT CHALLENGE TO CONDUCT JUNE ASSEMBLY POLLS Kathmandu, 14 March: With major political forces agreeing to hold fresh Constituent Assembly elections on June 21, the Election Commission (EC), which now has 100 days in hand, is set to have a tough time ahead, Bhadra Sharma writes isn The Kathmandu Post.. EC Officials, however, said they are confident that the polls will be held within the stipulated time frame if everything goes well, politically. “The government has granted a few more days than our earlier request, so we will do our best to utilise that extra time,” EC Spokesperson Anil Thakur told the Post on Wednesday. EC officials are upbeat about the announcement of the date for the elections and the extra days given for preparations. The EC had earlier requested the government to set aside at least 92 days for poll preparations. The 92-day work plan, according to EC officials, will come into effect once the government appoints commissioners and releases budget for the logistics. A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday night amended some provisions in the Interim Constitution to make way for the June polls. Some electoral acts and regulations are, however, yet to be amended. With constitutional hurdles also gone, updating of the voter rolls, party registration and arrangement of ballot papers are major tasks for the EC. “Updating the voter roll, party registration and printing of ballot papers are likely to take a great deal of time,” said former Acting EC Chief Neel Kantha Uprety. He also seemed sceptical about elections being held during the rainy season. “The political agreement alone will not guarantee that the polls will be held as planned. One must also consider the weather conditions,” he said. He added that as rainfall is not evenly distributed across the country, the government can hold phased elections during the monsoon. Monsoon season in Nepal begins from the first week of June. The country has never held elections in this month, save the 1979 national referendum. The preparationsGenerally, with the announcement of the polls, the EC evaluates the challenges it has in hand and forwards its suggestions to the government if there is any room for corrections. The EC updates the voter roll as per the constitutional and legal standards and gives time to the parties to get themselves registered. It then fixes the polling stations and appoints election officers and employees. Based on the number of parties participating in the elections and the voters, it prints the ballot papers and supplies them across the country. nnnn