In the Final Election Observation Report, EU-EOM termed the recently-concluded Nepali elections as ‘historic’ and a milestone activity.

In her comments, Zeljana Zovko, Chief Observer of EU-EOM appreciated the way elections were conducted and said these polls form a key milestone in the implementation of the new Nepali Constitution promulgated in 2015.

Zovko said the legal framework formed a strong basis for the successful conduction of elections.

She further lauded Nepal for ensuring proper implementation of the Right to Vote during the election campaigning process.

Special Recommendations

The EU-EOM final report included a total of 29 recommendations to the Government of Nepal regarding enforcement of laws to control vote-buying, review of First-Past-The-Post (FTFP) constituency boundaries for effective exercising of Right of Vote and increased transparency from the Election Commission of Nepal.

While the report highlighted’ that ‘the Election Commission of Nepal failed to publish critical information on voter turnout across polling centers and invalid votes along with lack of procedural weaknesses,’ the Election Commissioner Sudhir Shah responded saying, “We also can’t expect standards as high as those applicable in the UK and the US in Nepal at a time when the EC was forced to hold so many elections in less than a year.”

EU also urged for the removal of certain well-represented communities from the inclusion quota under the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system.

“Review the impact of the quota system on the ethnic composition of the House of Representatives and Provincial Assemblies and ensure the measures of affirmative action apply only to groups that are the subjects of negative discrimination,” noted the report.

Mission Complete

Upon the request from the Government of Nepal, EU had deployed around 100 election observers representing 28 EU member states along with Switzerland and Norway, as the special election observation team to monitor the two phases, Phase-I and Phase-II, of Nepal legislative polls for House of Representatives and Assemblies on November 24 and December 07, 2017.

EU had spent an estimated EUR 3.5 million for the mission and had appointed around 38 Long Term Observers (LTOs) across different parts of Nepal to monitor the election preparations and related logistics issues.

 “It is a great honor for me to lead the EU Election Observation Mission to Nepal. I’m very committed to accompany Nepal in this important phase of its democratic process,” Zovko stated earlier after the announcement of his team’s help to Nepal elections.

Apart from EU, various other teams including as General Election Observation Committee (GEOC), National Election Observation Committee (NOEC) and Inclusive Women Network for Peace, Justice and Democracy (Sankalp) had also deployed their teams for the successful conduction of elections.

EU had appointed similar missions in 2008 and 2013 as well.

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However, the communist parties’ cabinet seat-sharing has been a matter of discussion since the time results were announced.

As per the latest update, the two parties are most likely to go on for a 60:40 ratio in seat sharing (the same ratio implemented for fielding candidates) if their discussions do not materialize before the formation of the new Nepali Government.

UML is reportedly keen on offering 30 percent cabinet seats to its ally MC based on the number of seats the party won in the recently-concluded polls.

According to Senior MC party leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the announcement of Proportional Representation (PR) seats will give a needed boost to the process of new government formation.

“Otherwise, there is no alternative but to reach a deal with the Nepali Congress (on the ordinance forwarded for National Assembly election),” Narayan added.

It will take at least two weeks to form the new government even after allotment of PR seats, says UML leader Rinal.

The discussions over announcement of Khadga Prasad Oli as the next Nepali PM was also halted due to row over the formation of new National Assembly.

“The meeting of the party unification coordination committee will begin as soon as Dahal returns from Chitwan, may be on Tuesday evening or Wednesday,” informed UML Secretary Pradeep Gyawali.

This update gains significance in view of UML’s recent announcement over formation of new Nepali Government most likely by the end of December 2017.

Provincial Council Results

Meanwhile, Nepal Election Commission (EC) has made another major announcement regarding Nepal’s landmark parliamentary and provincial polls.

EC, on December 22, 2017, announced the results of country’s Provincial Council (PC) elections under the Proportional Representation (PR) system.

The seats allocation under PC saw CPN-UML leading with 75 seats followed by Nepali ruling Congress with 72 seats.

While CPN-MC won 35 seats, Federal Democratic Forum (FDF) bagged 13 seats followed by Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-Nepal) that got 12 seats.

Parliamentary PR Results in Two Days

The results of the parliamentary polls under PR system are likely to be announced very soon.

According to the EC Spokesperson Navaraj Dhakal, the PR unit functioning under EC will finish the Parliamentary PR seat allocation in the next two days. “We will unveil the result of Parliamentary PR elections as soon as possible,” informed Dhakal.

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While the three-tier local body polls were held on May 14, June 28 and September 19 of the current year, the most-awaited general elections for electing members for the provincial and parliamentary seats are currently underway in two phases (November 26 and December 7, 2017).

These two elections are important for Nepal for two reasons: One being the socio-political transformation that the Nepali citizens have been waiting for since around two decades and the other being the country witnessing these many number of elections in a single year for the first time in its history.

Local Body Polls

Nepal’s local body polls 2017 drew a huge response from the governments across the world, such as Japan, US, India, among others, which acclaimed that as Nepal’s major step towards its long-awaited development process.

“This is a significant progress towards the implementation of the constitution that was promulgated in 2015,” said the Government of Japan.

“Most importantly, Nepal held the first local elections in 20 years – a significant milestone for your democratic government,” stated the US President Donald Trump.

Upon the completion of local body elections, the United Nations had also hailed Nepal for its efforts towards institutionalizing democratic process through local body polls.

The local body election that concluded with the final phase on September 19, 2017 left its mark registering a record voter turnout.

Provincial and Parliamentary Polls

The intense election heat that began with the local body polls at the start of the Nepal new year 2074 in May continues till date currently in the form of the country’s general provincial and parliamentary polls that are underway.

This legislative election, also termed as the general election, began with the first phase polls that was conducted on November 26, 2017 across 37 constituencies of the House of Representatives and 74 provincial assembly constituencies.

The final phase is slated for December 7, 2017 and will cover 45 districts of the Tarai and hill areas for electing a total of 128 seats for the House of Representatives and 256 provincial assembly seats.

Nepal legislative election 2017 is being seen as a game-changer for Nepal as the country is most likely to witness an end to its long political and social turmoil along with the formation of new constitution.

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Apart from interesting aspects like the formation of unexpected political alliances, women and couples’ participation were found to be the other highlights of the Nepali Legislative Elections 2017 drawing huge public attention.

Women in Campaigning

With most of the men staying abroad for work, Dolakha of Province 3 is witnessing a remarkable participation of women in campaigning for the upcoming Nepal general elections.

According to the local leaders, this trend is because of the absence of men in the district.

According to UML’s Parbat Gurung and Nepali Congress (NC)’s Rudra Bahadur Khadka, local First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) candidates contesting for the Federal Parliament, a huge presence of women was being seen in the election activities.

Pashupati Chaulagain, CPN-UML’s FPTP candidate from Dolakha-1 (B), made a Facebook post of his poll campaigning pictures involving women campaigners.

 “We see huge presence of women in these election programmes as there are only a few men and youths left in the villages,” says Kamala Basnet, Deputy Mayor of Bhimeshwar Municipality.

Kalika Pathak, Vice Chairperson of Kalinchok Rural Municipality, says, “In Magapauwa village, the number of women attending an election-related discussion programme was 60, while only 35 males were present.”

However, the women participation was found to be confined to preparing garlands for the leaders and welcoming the guests, and were hardly invited on to the dais for speeches.

Women account for half of the 2.08 million population of Dolakha and the number of women voters are more than men, at 74,016 out of the total 147,878 registered voters of the district.

Women Contestants

The Dang District of Province 5 alone is witnessing eight women candidates in race for the upcoming federal and provincial elections that are scheduled to be held in the district under second phase on December 5, 2017.

According to the Office of Chief Returning Officer, Dang, four women candidates are contesting for three House of Representative seats and a similar number of women are vying for six provincial assembly seats.

Sushila Chaudhary for Nepali Congress, Rekha KC for CPN-UML alliance, KC for the left alliance of UML-CPN alliance are among the eight women candidates.

18 Couples in The Election Fray

Around 18 couples are contesting in Nepal’s general and provincial elections 2017.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba (from Dadeldhura) and his wife Arzoo Deuba Rana (from Kailali-5 constituency) are among the prominent leaders contesting in the FTFP category.

While the former Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar is contesting in the PR category, her husband CPN-MC leader Barsha Man Pun is in race under FPTP from the Rolpa constituency.

Nepali Congress leader Bal Krishna Khand and his wife Manju Khand, UML Vice-Chairman Bam Dev Gautam and his wife Tulasha Thapa, and CPN-MC leader Dev Gurung and his wife Yashoda Subedi are among other prominent couples representing different political parties in the upcoming elections.

Women in Election Counting

Meanwhile, the Election Commission officials are also calling for high women participation in the election counting process.

In this regard, the Chief Election Officer of Chitwan, Kul Prasad Sharma has urged the concerned authorities to recruit women for vote counting in the upcoming elections.

Sharma made this statement at a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Social Cohesion and Democratic Participation Programme organized in Bharatpur, recently.

Sharma added that women folks are most suitable for this task because of their modesty and peaceful nature.

Nepali CNN Hero Anuradha Koirala

Globally-renowned Nepali social activist Anuradha Koirala Joins Race on behalf of Nepali Congress

CNN Hero and the Founder of reputed organization called Maiti Nepal, Anuradha Koirala has entered the election race on behalf of the Nepali Congress (NC).

“That’s why, at a time when constitution implementation has become challenging, I appeal on everyone to vote for NC and end the political stalemate that has gripped the nation for six decades. Everyone should now know that only a NC-led government will ensure the rights of all people,” says Koirala.

Koirala has drawn wide recognition, globally, for her continuous fight against girl trafficking over the past three decades and CNN has also conferred her with the Hero of the Year’ title in 2010.

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Nepal’s legislative election 2017 has been a long-awaited aspect for Nepal and the world as well, as the country is expected to enter a new era of development with the upcoming elections.

Besides the formation of new constitution and unexpected political alliances that shook the country’s political landscape, this election has also opened avenues for various other interesting aspects.

Business Community Makes a Special Entry

In a major move, dozens of businessmen including the famous people have decided to foray into politics through the upcoming polls.

Majority of the business community people who acquired part tickets include industrialists, contractors, overseas and tourism entrepreneurs.

While a few are contesting for parliamentary seats, a substantial number of businessmen are also contesting in provincial polls.

Tek Bahadur Gurung (an overseas entrepreneur), Prakash Singh Karki (President of Nepal Freight Forwarders’ Association), Ramesh Dhamala (Former President of Trekking Agencies’ Association Nepal) are among many others from the business community contesting in the provincial and parliamentary polls.

Decline in Rate of Political Clashes, says Army

In an announcement on November 02, 2017, the Nepali Army concluded that the formation of electoral alliances has significantly reduced the threat of political clashes during the upcoming polls.

The Army made this statement after a detailed analysis on the current security situation across the country, as per the individual departmental reports.

As per the government’s election security strategy, Army stands as the final security layer after temporary security staff, Nepali Police and Armed Police Force.

Digital Trend Catches Up!

Moving away from traditional methods of pasting posters, writing on walls and distributing pamphlets, Nepali political parties and candidates started using digital and social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, among others for their election campaigns for upcoming polls.

Contesting candidates and their supporters were found to have inundated social media pages with their campaigning audio and video material.

The era of election posters is gone. The most effective publicity tool in the digital age is social media,” says Janaki Lal Basnet, NC’s provincial assembly candidate from the Dang District.

“I have been planning to expedite my poll campaign online,” says CPN-Maoist Center leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara.

“I have tried to modernize my poll publicity, using QR code even in traditional publicity tools,” says State Minister for Information and Communications Tapta Bahadur Bista.

Worries Over Women Participation

Despite large expectations, the upcoming polls are most likely to register only a less percentage of women representatives in the Nepali Parliament, says Nepali Constitution experts.

While the current constitutional rules allow 33 percent women representation in Nepali Parliament, the constitutional experts feel that might not work out in the new constitution to be formed out of upcoming polls.

“If we assume that 55 women are elected in the House of Representatives and 22 in the Upper House that will mean only 77 women in the 334-member Parliament, 33 short of the required number,” says Chandra Kanta Gyawali, a constitutional expert.

According to Gyawali, the number of women contestants fielded looks concerning.

The political parties fielded only around 50 percent women candidates in the parliamentary PR polls, Gwayali adds.

The top three parties fielded only nine women contests women for the first phase of the parliamentary FPTP polls.

While the Nepali Election Commission is doubting 33 percent women seats in the Nepali Parliament, CPN-Maoist Centre claims to have fielded 60 women candidates under the PR list and UML claims that the party’s PR list has 60 percent women candidates.

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Nepal’s legislative election 2017, to be held in two phases on November 26 and December 7, 2017, is being considered as one of the key chapters in Nepali politics to end political turmoil and bring political transformation in the country.

This election holds significance as it also forms base for the formation of new Nepali Constitution that the country has been waiting for since more than two years.

While the Election Commission and the Government of Nepal are already busy in preparations, the candidates are brain storming for testing their luck!

Unexpected Broader Alliances

Even though long-awaited, the actual heat around the legislative and parliamentary polls started with the announcement of unexpected broader alliances among leftist and democratic parties, respectively.

In a major move in the Nepali political landscape, the two major communist parties CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre formed a grand alliance and have already finalized their seat sharing in 165 parliamentary and 330 provincial constituencies for these First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) elections.

Both the partners have agreed upon a 60:40 seat sharing ratio with UML placing its candidates in 81 parliamentary constituencies and CPN-MC in 77 places, and independents in seven seats.

The left alliance filed its nominations for 37 Parliamentary FPTP constituencies in 32 districts that are set for election on November 26, 2017.

Apart from that, the Federal Democratic Forum-Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal formed alliance in Province 2, and the two Madhes-based parties aligned and two Rastriya Prajatantra Parties aligned with the Nepali Congress in some constituencies.

A Three-way Fight

Following leftist alliance, the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) had also announced of forming a seven-member democratic alliance to fight leftist alliance.

However, the announcement was a jolt to NC owing to the CPN-Maoist Centre party’s crucial coalition in the ruling government led by NC President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Condemning the communist alliance, Deuba called on the citizens to vote for his Nepali Congress (NC) party.

“Like it or dislike it, the country needs the NC,” said Deuba at a public meeting held to announce the NC’s manifesto for parliamentary and provincial polls, while also reiterating his party’s commitment to effective functioning of federal governance in the country.

Besides NC and the new leftist alliance, there exists another political force of Madhes-based parties that hold strong base in Terai region.

Two important Madhes-based parties, Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N), stood second and third, respectively, in the recently-held local elections of Province No 2, in southeastern Nepal.

EU Deploys Observation Team

In response to the Nepali authorities’ request, the European Union has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Nepal to monitor the provincial and parliamentary polls for electing House of Representatives.

EU considers this as fulfilling its long-term commitment to Nepal as part of bilateral ties.

“It is a great honor for me to lead the EU Election Observation Mission to Nepal. The forthcoming elections are taking place under a new political and electoral system. I’m very committed to accompany Nepal in this important phase of its democratic process,” says Ms Zeljana Zovko, Chief Observer of EOM.

EU had appointed similar missions in 2008 and 2013 as well.

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Nepal started witnessing major political shifts ahead of the country’s most-awaited provincial and federal elections scheduled for November 26, 2017 and December 7, 2017.

In a major move, the leftist and democratic parties started forming broader alliances bringing in a sudden shift in the Nepali political landscape.

While the two leftist parties CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) and Babu Ram Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti Party-Nepal announced a broader alliance yesterday, immediately a day after, the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) today decided to form another alliance of democratic forces.

In a meeting convened by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and the NC President, NC decided to form a seven-member team as a stronger democratic alliance.

“The parties have reached a consensus on forming an electoral alliance among the democratic and federal forces,” said NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi.

Democratic Vs Leftist

This move by the ruling party is coming after the NC Working Committee concluded the formation of democratic alliance as the only alternative to counter the leftist forces. 

The leftist alliance has also formed a six-point agreement to form a drafting committee to prepare the policy and finish the merger post the elections. 

“Nepali people have aspired for this unity and this unity is the need of the country. We have begun a journey of unification,” said Oli while informing that the new alliance is aiming for two-thirds majority in the upcoming polls.

Meanwhile, in a statement, PM Deuba informed that the government is committed to holding elections as scheduled despite the threats being posed by the left alliance.

The top leaders hailed the ongoing mergers and hoped the new political shifts would could unify other leftist and democratic forces to advocate for a country’s development.

Entrepreneurs Welcome Mergers

Entrepreneurs of the Chitwan region welcomed the merger of leftist parties to form a leftist alliance and called for the alliance of rightist parties.

They hoped such alliances would pave the way for stable government in the country.

 “The recent agreement among the three parties to forge electoral alliance for the upcoming provincial and parliamentary elections would definitely pave the way for a stable government. However, vested interests should not act to bring splits,” says Rajan Gautam, Chair, Chitwan chapter of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

We can attract investments in the industrial sector if there is a majority government, he adds.

Meanwhile, Chair of Ratnanagar chapter of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Rajaram Regmi said the unification has opened opportunities for the entrepreneurs who were tired of offering political donations. “I hope this alliance helps create investment-friendly atmosphere,” Regmi added.

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