Hundreds of combatants of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) have staged protests across Nepal after the Election Commission announced that elections to constituent assembly (CA) were not possible within mid-June dateline, reported nepalnews.com on Sunday.

The CPN-M combatants living in the divisional cantonment at Chitwan, some 85 km southwest of Kathmandu, staged protest at nearby Jutpani area on Saturday, chanting slogans against the EC announcement, reports said.

Likewise, CPN-M combatants in the divisional cantonment sites in Nawalparasi, 160 km west of Kathmandu, and Sindhuli, 80, km east of Kathmandu, also demonstrated against the EC announcement.

The CPN-M cadres also demanded that the government provide better facilities in the camps, reports said.

Their protests coincided with the CPN-M leadership's reaction to the EC's announcement, saying it was a "political conspiracy" to thwart CA election.

At a press conference on Friday, Chief Election Commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokhrel said the EC would not be able to meet the constitutional deadline of mid-June for the CA elections and made clear that it would take at least 110 days to make preparations even when all election-related legislatures were in place.

Source: Xinhua