Election Security

The Election Commission (EC), in close coordination with different government bodies, has nearly completed preparations for the upcoming elections to the federal and provincial parliaments. This has been possible because of the hard work done by election commissioners as well as all the employees working under the election authority.  They even did not enjoy the Dashain, Tihar and Chhath holidays in the way expected as they had to remain quite busy preparing for the elections slated for coming Sunday (November 20). The upcoming election will be the second of this kind following the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015. The first three-tier elections were held in 2017. With those polls, the new national charter started to be implemented. It needs no reiteration that free and fair periodic elections are the cornerstone of democracy. A democratic decorum and culture fosters only when elections are held in a credible and fearless environment. Citizens cannot vote for the candidates of their choice if elections are not conducted in a free and impartial manner.

A strong security situation is essential for holding elections legitimately, with increased voter turnout. When no robust security arrangements are in place, there are chances for unpleasant and illegal activities such as election manipulations and violence. As of now, overall security situation seems to be normal nationwide. However, some minor occurrences like explosions of small bombs have been reported in some parts of the country. On Wednesday, a bomb went off close to a canvassing venue at Tiwari Bhanjyang in Bhojpur. The person carrying the explosives was arrested immediately after the incident. On the same day, a team of police personnel deployed by the Parsa district police office nabbed an Indian national with about 15,000 fake ballot papers in his possession. Such activities may pose a threat to the imminent polls. Since Nepal and India share a long open border, wrongdoers may find it easier to cross the frontier in order to cause nuisance.  

From the security perspective, the EC has classified the polling centres into three categories - ordinary, sensitive and very sensitive. Taking this into consideration, all the four security bodies - Nepal Police, Nepali Army, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department - have been mobilised to ensure that the elections are held in a peaceful environment. Besides, about 115,000 temporary police personnel have also been deployed for poll security. All the security personnel have already reached the areas where they have been deputed. Meanwhile, the High-level Election Security Committee meeting held at the EC on Wednesday issued an 11-point directive to the government for ensuring a free, fair and credible poll environment. It has suggested that the government should embrace an appropriate security strategy so as to prevent probable adverse happenings such as disruption of election, supply of weapons, booth capturing, supply and consumption of alcoholic drinks, depriving voters from their rights to cast vote and incidents of threats and intimidation. 

The silence period has begun from Thursday midnight, and during this period, the political parties and candidates are required to stop holding discussions, interactions and other gatherings. They also must not publish or convey any message for or against any party or contestant in print media or through social media. They cannot host any feast or organise rallies with an intention of winning over voters. So, the election authority has called upon all responsible agencies to strictly monitor the activities that do not comply with the election code of conduct. It, however, has urged the government to manage systematic movement of vehicles on the polling day as per the set standards.