- बिहीबार, १३ वैशाख, २०८१
Kathmandu, Oct. 25: Spokesperson of the Government and Minister for Information and Communications Madhav Prasad Poudel, has said the government will follow the election code of conduct in letter and spirit and the political parties, media people, civil society and all the government bodies should fully abide by it.
Taking part in a seminar on ‘election code of conduct and media role’ organised by the National Election Observers Committee (NEOC) here today, Minister Poudel said the government is committed to conducting the upcoming Constituent Assembly ( CA) election in a free and fair manner to be acceptable to all.
It is the media which had an important role in creating election atmosphere in the country, he said. Media itself should first comply with the election code of conduct and then check out its implementation by other bodies, he added.
The Nepal Army was mobilised in all the elections in the country except for the 2008 CA election, Minister Poudel said the government decision to mobilise NA for the next CA election got considerably more priority in Nepali media.
On the occasion, journalists associated with different bodies and organisations stressed that journalists should always follow the code of conduct and not only during the election and should never walk under the flag of political parties.
The NEOC is learnt to have decided to send 10,000 election observers along with 60 journalists in 240 election constituencies in the upcoming CA election. NEOC President and former Chief Election Commissioner Surya Prasad Shrestha said the election was essential to establish political stability in the country and for institutionalizing democracy.
He expressed his hope that the incumbent government would be able to ensure a free and fair election.
Chairman of the Press Council Nepal Borna Bahadur Karki said the Council is a liable body for monitoring media. Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) General Secretary Om Sharma said journalists create election atmosphere across the country and the FNJ has urged journalists not to run after the political parties.
Nepal Press Institute Chairman Shova Gautam said some of the television channels and online portals are not fair and this should be monitored by the body concerned.
Journalists Devendra Gautam, Suresh Acharya, Tirtha Koirala, Sarita Aryal, Kiran Pokhrel, Madhav Nepal and Sachin Roka stressed that media people should always remember professional discipline while fulfilling their responsibilities. RSS
