The Government of Nepal announced the date for local level election on February 7 after consultation with the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN). The local level election is scheduled for May 13, 2022 in a single phase across all 753 municipalities and rural municipalities in the country.

The electoral environment since the announcement of the election date on February 7 until April 15 (around 2.5 months period) has remained largely peaceful compared to roughly the same duration during the 2017 local election. The instances of violence observed during this period are mostly intra-party disputes related to mobilization and nomination of candidates.

Only a handful of violent election related incidents (mostly vandalism and assault) have been observed in contrast to 2017 local level election. NepalMonitor had recorded 69 violent incidents including 3 incidents involving the use of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and 43 other incidents (mostly vandalism, arson or protests turning violent) over the same duration in the 2017 local level election.

(This is the First edition of our Periodic Update covering electoral developments from April 1 - 15, 2022)

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