Kathmandu, Jan. 4 -- A secretariat meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party has picked 16 candidates for the upcoming National Assembly election, but by doing so, the party has once again violated due process.

According to party leaders, candidates for the National Assembly should be nominated by the party's provincial committees before they are endorsed by the secretariat. The 16 candidates, however, were unilaterally selected by the secretariat.

Although the top leadership of the party had committed to following due process in the recently concluded Standing Committee meeting, party leaders say that they've failed to do so. During the meeting, in a joint political document, the two party chairs had expressed their commitment to run...