KATHMANDU: Even after declaring new elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA), the government is yet to seriously create a conducive atmosphere for political parties to seek a fresh mandate of the people.

The elections’ code of conduct unveiled by the Election Commission (EC) on June 6 barred the government from bringing any

populist programmes and mobilising state power, but the government itself has gone against it by transferring top police officers. There should be strict enforcement of the code of conduct which is a must to elect value guided politicians who believe in ethics because

politics in the poor countries is always polluted by power and money, as is rampant in the SAARC region.

The EC has already appealed to the government to amend the existing Constitution and election laws, which do not allow fresh polls. However, no progress has been made in terms of political parties seeking a suitable way out to remove legal hurdles, as they are yet to forge consensus.

The transition and decade long armed conflict is surely the root cause of criminals infiltrating into politics and engaging in corruption and unholy bargaining. This could be one of the causes for the  election of more than 15 per cent of the members with criminal background being appointed in the dissolved Constituent Assembly. This should be an eye-opener for the general public, who should refrain from appointing such people in responsible positions. This is especially so, since some shameful acts such as being involved in misuse of diplomatic

passports have been unveiled in the past.

Therefore, it might be the appropriate time to introduce provisions in laws to bar such persons candidacy in politics. Unless politics is purified by setting qualifications for law-makers, the right of the public to have good governance and development cannot be ensured.

“We talk about purifying politics occasionally during elections, which is necessary to ensure good governance and development as per the expectation of the public,” Advocate Mithilesh Kumar Singh told THT Perspectives. “It is imperative that strict actions are taken so that those who win the elections are honest politicians and not those who mobilise power and money,” Singh added.