Post-Election Review Highlights Need for Sweeping Reforms in Nepal's Electoral System

Although the 10th House of Representatives election was held peacefully, the experiences from it have shown the necessity of radical policy reforms in the electoral system. The research recently conducted by the 'Chetana Project,' which is active in making the electoral process cleaner and more economical, pointed out the need for reforms ranging from fixing the date of periodic elections in the constitution itself to having a separate code of conduct for social media.

The study report by the Center for Overall Development Service and Freedom Studio concluded that a separate legal mechanism is required to control hate speech and disinformation seen on online platforms during elections. According to Project Director Dr. Premraj Dhungel, the tendency of candidates changing parties after the election announcement must be stopped through law, and civic education should be included in the school curriculum. Specifically, it was suggested to implement a transparent system for verifying the authenticity of election expenditure details, rather than limiting them merely to formality.