EC OFFICIALS TALK WITH BIG FOUR AGAIN IN TWO DAYS Kathmandu, 30 March: UCPN Maoist leaders joined talks with top officials of Of the Election Commission (EC) Saturday. They joined leaders of the other Three Big parties after remaining away from Friday’s talks centered around the second constituent assembly vote unlikely to be held in June. The Big Four Friday had decided to hold talks with election officials to determine reason in delay in announcing election date. The commission is scheduled to hold a meeting with registered parties Sunday. nnnn ELECTION DATE WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON SAYS HOME MINISTER Kathmandu, 30 March: Minister for Home and Foreign Affairs, Madhav Prasad Ghimire, has said that the date for the Constituent Assembly Election would be fixed as soon as possible creating apt political and security environment, RSS reports.. Addressing the 15th anniversary function of Reporters' Club Nepal here today, he said the present government was moving ahead in a responsible, active and serious manner for creating a congenial environment for the election. The Minister for Home Affairs appealed all to extend the necessary cooperation for creating the election environment. Stating that they were conscious of the fact that the main responsibility of the incumbent government is to conduct the election, he stressed that the affairs of the State were being run accordingly. Home Minister Ghimire stated that the security bodies have been directed to employ various security strategies if obstructions are created in the task of collecting the voters' list. Chief Election Commissioner Nilkantha Uprety urged the political parties and the government to help create an environment where in the collection of voters' list would not be obstructed. He suggested declaring the date for the election when the environment is favourable. He said although the election commissioners have been appointed for holding the election, still there is lack of full preparation for the election in terms of making amendment to the election-related laws and creation of favourable environment. The Chief Election Commissioner opined that the public view is that the date for the election should be determined only when there is favourable environment rather than fixing the date in a hurry and having to defer it afterwards for lack of election environment. nnnn