Kathmandu, June 9: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today reiterated his commitment to strengthen the Election Commission.

“The government will decide about the necessary amendments to be made in the existing legislation to strengthen the Election Commission after the High Level Committee for the Improvement of Election Management and Election Regulation submits its report,” Koirala said.

He assured that the report to be submitted by the Committee in the line of providing the necessary logistics to the Election Commission would be implemented without any hitch.

“The book Nirbachan 2056 will serve as a valuable input to those willing to study the election trends, functioning of the parliament and Constitutional Monarchy in Nepal,” Koirala told the launching of the Nirbachan 2056 published by the Media Line.

He said that the exercise would be more fruitful if a magazine encompassing election trends and the functioning of parliamentary democracy was published once in every three months.

Koirala said that it was imperative to curtail the high expenditure made during elections and put an end to all forms of perversions to make elections free, fair and impartial.

“The third general elections held in May last year was by and large free and impartial apart from some sporadic incidents of violence,” Koirala said.

Chief Election Commissioner Bishnu Pratap Shah said that rhetoric alone would not contribute to empower the election Commission.

“Unless financial autonomy and adequate manpower is given to the EC its functioning cannot be free from impediments,” Shah said.

Since the process of conducting the elections in Nepal primarily relies on the government machinery the elections are bound to reflect the level of expertise and the politicisation present in the bureaucracy, Shah said.

He said that signs of improvement in the line of empowering the EC were showing up as Prime Minister Koirala had set up a committee to sort out all the shortcomings.

British Ambassador to Nepal, Ronald H. Nash said that elections were the key to the consolidation of democracy, which in turn gave rise to a legitimate government and also expectations for the fulfilment of certain rights and services from the chosen government.

Nash said that the elections held in Nepal last year was well organised. Parties having proximity to the terrorist groups lost public support and the fear that the elections would be disrupted failed to materialise.

He said in the bid of the British government to support Nepal’s development endeavours, the Embassy also extended financial support for the publication of the Nirbachan 2056.

The book he said was the first election specific document in Nepal and was circulated to interested parties inside and outside Nepal.

Prakash Rimal of the Media Line said that the book comprised over 100 election bulletins and gave an insight into how the local media covered the May elections last year.

He said that the book would prove to be a useful tool for those willing to conduct a research on the election trends in Nepal.

Rimal said that the Media Line had recently launched a television programme in English aired every Sunday after the English news bulletin of the Nepal Television. The programme known as the “News Track” provides a round up of the current happenings in the political and social domains, he said.

Delivering the vote of thanks Ila Sharma also affiliated with the Media Line said that the book had given due coverage to the activities of all the political parties at the time of elections.