Kathmandu, April 19: Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya has retired effective from Friday, April 18.

The Commission organized a farewell program on Friday to say goodbye to Thapaliya. After completing the six-year term in office as per sub-section (3) of Article 245 of the Constitution of Nepal, Thapaliya took retirement.

At the farewell ceremony, Thapaliya described the six-year experience of the Election Commission as an important opportunity to introspect creative thinking and feeling for strengthening democracy and improving election management. He said, "During this period, periodic elections of the House of Representatives, Provincial Assemblies and local levels, elections of the President and Vice President, elections of the National Assembly and various by-elections were held in a free and fair manner, contributing to the institutional strengthening of democracy through the spontaneous expression of public opinion."

At the same time, he said that Nepal's elections, which began with the declaration of independence and matured with time, are a great story of democracy written by the people's opinion. He said, "The journey of the Election Commission through the ups and downs of the political system, electoral system and election management process in nearly six decades has sent a clear message that elections are the soul of democracy and citizen participation is its soul."

Election Commissioner Ramprasad Bhandari mentioned that the election management process is being improved by the efficient leadership of the Commission and the coordination and activism between the Commission family and stakeholders.

At the farewell ceremony, Chief Election Commissioner Thapaliya released a booklet titled Six Years of the Election Commission, detailing the major works carried out by the Election Commission from Baisakh from 2076 to 2081.

People’s News Monitoring Service.