Kathmandu, Oct. 8 -- A month after election dates were announced, the Election Commission is preparing to hold consultations with the political parties and other stakeholders next week.

The constitutional body decided to hold the discussions after a meeting with Prime Minister Sushila Karki and other ministers on election preparations on Tuesday.

"The commission was already planning for the consultations while the prime minister also suggested this," said Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson for the commission. "We will sit with the political parties and other stakeholders on October 16 or 17."

Over the month since the election dates were announced, neither the commission nor the Karki administration has held discussions with the pol...