Govt, security chiefs plan poll security

KATHMANDU, JUL 30 -
In a bid to ensure free and fair Constituent Assembly elections, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday organised an integrated security meet with five Regional Administrators, chiefs of three security agencies and senior Ministry officials at the Nepal Police Headquarters.

In the meeting chaired by Home Minister Madhav Ghimire, Home Secretary Nabin Ghimire, the five regional administrators and security chiefs of the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department presented the overall security situation of the country and challenges facing the November elections, according to officials.

As the Post went to Press, the meeting that started at 9 in the morning, and which was about to finalise a comprehensive security plan for the polls, was under way.

“Elections can be boycotted, but not disrupted. Disrupting the polls is a crime,” the Home Minister told the meeting, adding that strong action will be taken against anyone trying to thwart the elections.

In the meeting, security officials concluded that the recent move of the 12 armed outfits in the Tarai to join hands is meant to bring together all the Madhes-based parties for the polls.

Participants in the meeting also discussed challenges posed by armed outfits in the Tarai and the Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist if the latter stayed out of the polls. “The meeting also dwelt on the role of the Nepal Army in the elections,” a participant told the Post.

Nepal Police’s strategy

Meanwhile, Nepal Police has prepared its own security plan for the elections. According to the department, around 50,000 personnel—around 75 percent of the existing 67,181 strength of the police force—will be deployed during the polls.

The remaining 25 percent will remain at various police units and jail departments for regular duties.

According to the plan so far, two mobile police teams of seven personnel, under the command of a senior police official, will be deployed in all the electoral constituencies.

Apart from the patrol and mobile police units, every district will have a reserve force of 25 personnel, while reserve forces at the zonal and regional levels will have 35 and 50 personnel each, according to the plan. The police department has also formed regional desks led by SSPs at the Police Headquarters in Naxal. The desks have been tasked with managing the overall security in all the stages of the election.

In the 2008 CA elections, 1,635 of the total 9,824 polling stations were categorised as highly sensitive, while 3,556 of them were marked sensitive. The polling stations in districts including Bardiya, Dhanusha, Siraha, Saptari, Sarlahi, Tanahun, Baglung, Rolpa, Rukum, Salyan and Kathmandu, among others, were categorised as highly sensitive.

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