Den 19. november skal nepaleserne vælge forsamling, der skal udforme ny forfatning. Tidligere forsamling kunne ikke blive enig og blev opløst. Stigende spændinger og politisk motiveret hærværk skaber nervøsitet for sikkerheden omkring valget.
KATHMANDU, 31 October 2013 (IRIN): Protests and logistical challenges are heightening tensions before a scheduled 19 November national poll in Nepal that is seen as critical to the country’s stability and development, say analysts.
Voters are to choose a new Constituent Assembly (CA), which serves as the country’s parliament. The last assembly dissolved in May 2012 after failing to produce a much-anticipated post-war constitution. Citizens have looked to a new constitution to help the country emerge from the 1996-2006 civil war that killed more than 15,000 people. But the contentious issues that stalled its drafting, including how to structure the state and share power, remain unresolved.
In January 2013, the UN noted that high-level political stagnation was allowing the “slow but persistent deterioration of democratic institutions and effective governance”. The humanitarian costs of the constitutional stalemate are high. Without it, several pieces of legislation, including a disaster management act and the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission, have been on hold.
Meanwhile logistical challenges and threats of violence loom over the polls.
Of the approximately 16 million eligible voters, 12.5 million were registered, “potentially leaving a significant section of the population disenfranchised in the next election,” warned the Carter Center, a US-headquartered human rights organization.
The Election Commission’s goal was to sign up 14.7 million voters. The Carter Center attributed this missed target to low turnout at voter registration drives, noting that undocumented residents could have been excluded despite government-initiated citizenship campaigns.
As campaigning rolls out nationwide, an opposition alliance has attempted to obstruct election-related activities, threatening to prolong the country’s political instability.
“The failure to write a constitution and the subsequent legislative vacuum in Nepal have contributed to the steady and continued erosion of the rule of law in the country, stalling development and choking off access to justice for Nepalis,” said Benjamin Schonveld, South Asia director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) office in Kathmandu.
Pre-poll scuffles
The government has deployed nearly two-thirds of the army to provide security during the polls – the first time the army has participated in electoral security since fighting ended.
In several incidents, activists have disrupted election preparation activities by smashing computers and seizing records , according to local press reports, sparking concern that unrest will increase as the poll date approaches.
While most anti-election activities took place in rural areas, the attacks spread to the capital in late October, when candidates’ cars were torched. With just 19 days before the election, experts say tensions over the very idea of holding polls may be enough to incite violence.
“Elections are civilian affairs conducted to manage conflict in a society,” said Bhojraj Pokhrel, the now-retired chief election commissioner who oversaw the country’s first national post-conflict poll in 2008, which elected the recently dissolved CA.
“But the way that the parties are projecting messages from different sides, it seems as if we’re going into a war rather than an election, which is troublesome,” he added.
Troubled history
