I am absolutely certain that elections will be held on Nov 19

SEP 23 -
With less than two months remaining for the scheduled Constitution Assembly (CA) election date of November 19, the Election Commission (EC), led by Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety, has been hard at work finalising logistics and technicalities. The political parties are also busy selecting candidates and preparing election manifestos. However, the date for political parties to file their candidacies has been postponed by a week and a coalition of 33 parties, led by the Mohan Baidya’s CPN-Maoist, has chosen to stay out of the political process and oppose elections. In this context, Bhadra Sharma and Darshan Karki spoke to Uprety about the remaining preparations for elections, the security situation and the certainty of elections on the scheduled date.

Where do preparations for   elections stand?

All election related materials like printing papers for ballots and ballot boxes have arrived and we have already ordered the indelible ink. Parties have

been registered and the voter roll has been prepared, printed and sent to all 240 election offices. The EC has  deferred the candidacy nomination date by a week to ensure the participation of all parties.

Will it be possible to defer more election-related dates if there are requests?

If election activities need to be postponed further, then the November election date will have to be pushed back accordingly. We do not have any room to accommodate more requests. The date for candidacy nominations was deferred after going through all the options available. If we tamper with the schedule any more, it will be difficult to hold elections on November 19.

The CPN-Maoist’s recent activities have been quite violent. In this context, what is your assessment of the security situation?

The EC was presented with a complete security plan yesterday and we are confident that we will be able to deal with all security challenges. But the security situation of a country is not static; it is dynamic. Security concerns depend on the place, the circumstance and the people, groups and work involved. So we are not in a position to say the  situation today will remain unchanged tomorrow. There are challenges, but we have the state and its mechanisms to address those challenges. Everyone needs to believe this and convince voters and everyone else involved in the electoral process of the same.

The EC seems to have compromised on many issues—from the debate on threshold to the recruitment of temporary police. How certain can we be of the quality of elections?

The EC suggested a threshold based on its technical and professional knowledge of international election standards. However, the political parties did not want to adopt any measures that were not present in the last CA elections. The decision was theirs to make. We offered many other suggestions to improve this election but they did not agree. It would have been better if our suggestions had been implemented. Nevertheless, we have not compromised on vital issues of procedure and security.

What led you to change your stance on hiring temporary police for elections?

In previous elections, temporary police were very ineffective. This isn’t just the assessment of the EC but one of other sources too. So we suggested to the government that they not be used this time around. But there is something called competing demands. Elections need to be held on a given date but the existing number of police personnel is insufficient. In any case, we ascertained the  causes of the temporary police’s ineffectiveness in previous elections by going through the selection and recruitment process, the age of recruits, their qualifications and the duration they had been trained. We sought to make the recruitment more transparent and rigorous by taking in more qualified and experienced people. We will only be recruiting a minimum number of temporary police to perform specific tasks.

What will election observation look like this time around?

The EC’s deadline for monitoring applications was September 10. Around 54 organisations submitted applications to mobilise around 74,000 election observers. Of them, two international and 49 local institutions have already been accredited. In the past, there was a need to monitor the election observers themselves. In order to avoid that situation, we have tried to change the selection and training process by including educational qualifications and a changed code of conduct. When it comes to international observers, apart from those that were involved in election monitoring the last time, there will not be many new ones. We should desire to hold elections in such a way that there will be no need for observers. We need to be able to hold elections without the presence of security forces either. In developed and established democracies, election observers are not mobilised; they only have election visitors. When it comes to local observers, there have been many complaints about the mobilisation of people with political affiliations, so we are seeking to take in more impartial observers. We want to take in people who have some knowledge about what they are doing.

One very important task—the printing of ballot papers—has yet to be completed. Since it is almost the final hour, is there any possibility of printing it elsewhere?

There are no hindrances to printing the ballot paper. All the required materials—paper, machines, employees, spare parts and security personnel—are ready. The EC has no desire

to print ballot papers abroad. Otherwise, we would not have invested around Rs 200 million rupees to develop the required infrastructure. The ballot papers for elections have always been printed in Nepal. All necessary provisions to do so are in place. The printing place is also insured. However, in case we are unable to print the papers due to unforeseen events, we have a Plan B. There are other institutions within Nepal itself with the capacity to print the papers.

On a slightly different note, what has the role of the international community been like?

We have not only received financial support from the international community but also support in creating an atmosphere for elections, increasing voter confidence and managing political conflicts. They all want elections to be held as it is the only way to institutionalise democracy. Elections alone can protect the rights of the people.

Given that there are less than two months remaining for the scheduled date, what remains to be done?

The deadline for political parties to file candidacies for the proportional list has been deferred to September 30 and October 3 for first-past-the-post. The political parties will do their work within this time. We have already designed the ballot paper and need around 35 days to print it. Some work regarding sequencing is left. Party signs for the 130 parties taking part in the elections will be known by September 30. Once this is done, we will send the ballot papers for printing the very next day. It will take around seven to eight days to process everything for direct elections. The preparation of the final list of the candidates and the distribution of electoral signs will be completed after Dashain. Until then, we will have printed more than half of the ballot papers for proportional elections. Then, we will print 240 different sets of ballot papers. Everything will be done according to the election work plan. Another plan regarding the packing and dispatching of these materials is under way. For that, we are using vehicles from the government. The Armed Police Force and the Nepal Army will take these materials to each District Election Office and the returning offices.

Finally, how confident are you that that elections will be held on November 19?

I am 101 percent certain that elections will be held on November 19. Though percentage points cannot go beyond a hundred, we have been so engrossed in making elections happen by November 19 that we haven’t even thought of anything beyond it. We extended the election activity schedule by seven days, but even that was done to hold credible elections with the participation of all parties. 

Labels: Interview