Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari(File Photo)

Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari(File Photo)
At a time when the international community has flatly rejected the municipal polls conducted by the royal government, Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari has claimed that the civic polls have been a success and are totally valid.

Addressing the face to face programme organized by the Reporters Club in Kathmandu on Friday, Rajbhandari said the international community had no right to declare elections in Nepal as “invalid.” He added that the completion of the election in 58 municipalities across the country had paved the way to strengthen the derailed democratic process and a step towards holding parliamentary elections next year.

“The Commission has now begun working for new elections to be held for vacant seats of municipalities and parliamentary elections next year,” he said. He, however, didn’t mention the time when elections would be held to fill the remaining seats in municipalities.

The Chief Election Commissioner also denounced the question of credibility raised by donor countries like the US, Japan, UK and India.

He said that nowhere in the conflict-ridden areas, no more people would take part in the polls that turned up in Nepal on Wednesday.

According to the EC, nearly 21 percent of a total of 1.4 million people exercised their right to vote during municipal polls on Wednesday.

Responding to a query on why the Commission had freezed the election symbol of a nationally recognized party (Rastriya Prajatantra Party), Rajbhandari said that the Commission was forced to take such unpopular decision due to lack of time.

He also refused to comment on the voting by Home Minister Kamal Thapa twice. The state-owned news agency, RSS, on Wednesday reported that Minister Thapa cast his vote both in Kathmandu and Hetauda.

Rajbhandari said the Commission would study on the reports that a same group of people supporting the RPP led by Home Minister Thapa had voted in various polling stations in Kathmandu.

Municipal poll was conducted for 618 seats in 36 municipalities on Wednesday. All candidates in the rest 22 municipalities were declared elected unopposed. Of the total 4,146 seats in 58 municipalities, nominations were filed for nearly half of the seats only.

By Surendra R Devkota

While US president George W Bush was urging for global liberty during his State of the Union address on January 31st 2006, the royal government in Nepal was cracking down upon political leaders and activists. As King Gyanendra was delivering his speech on the completion of the first year of his direct rule, security forces continued to arrest hundreds of people from their houses who protested against the king’s rule. Not only opposition parties, professional organisations also observed February 1 as the “Black day.” As Nepal remains engulfed by black clouds over the past decade, the friction between different clouds has severely hampered the civilian lives.

As of now, people are not simply a silent spectator of the king’s arrogance. People of all walks of life in Nepal and abroad have now realized that the monarchy is the major obstruction for the intensification of democracy in Nepal since the royal takeover not only violated the 1990 Constitution of Nepal, but subsequent activities of the King proved that a reconciliatory approach for coexistence of both parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy has failed. Further, one year after the takeover, the king is still trying to consolidate his power. The general mass is asking whether the monarchy is relevant in Nepal.

Rulers of Pakistan, Burma (Myanmar), Bhutan, Maldives and now Nepal have a common and unique character that they do not like multiparty polity in their land but they shamelessly commit for democracy many times in a day. To strengthen the dictatorial hands, roles of army is very important as dictators and army complement each other under the disguise of democracy. Nepal’s royal ceremonial army has lost its credibility and accountability as it happens in many autocratic regimes. When the Royal Nepalese Army defied the orders of the civilian government during the early days of the Maoists insurgency after 1996, people raised their eyebrows about their loyalty. The Amnesty International in 2005 reported that Nepal has the highest disappearance of individuals under army custody. Resource inappropriateness, lack of complete fiscal discipline, unaccountability of killings, impunity, and intimidation are the very significant parameters of a total autocratic regime. Human right groups estimated that in the year 2005, more than 1,600 people were killed out of which nearly 60 percent were allegedly killed by the government forces.

The country is deadlocked due to the king’s arrogance and absolute political command. A spurring crisis of confidence among the king, the international community, and the political parties is an unfortunate indicator for the people of Nepal. International communities are finding difficult to entrust royal words and deeds, which are in opposite direction. Political parties have also realized that the king gained by playing a zero sum game. Of late, seven major political parties and the Maoists reached into a twelve-point understanding to end the autocratic monarchy. This political development, which seems unholy to royalists and diplomats, is leading to a political confrontation between the king and parties. People are now concluding that the means of democracy and peace would begin by the election of a constitutional assembly.

Nepali communities are undergoing the great economic hardship, and psychological stress, and strain. People living in rural areas are being severely affected. The king simply has overlooked these rural masses (85 percent of total population of 25 million) as if they don’t play any role in his power equation. Many donors who are working in many remote regions had already left the area due to constant threat of the Maoists. A politically independent country, Nepal is economically heavily dependent on many friendly countries and donor agencies. Though Nepal followed a modernization path five decades ago, nearly two thirds of annual budget of about one billion dollars of the country has to be supplemented by international aid– donations and loans, and country in engulfed into a persistent poverty in spite of the huge national and international funds funneled in. Average per capita income of the Nepalis is less than $250, while annual remuneration of the monarchy is more than one million dollar – making Nepali royalty perhaps one of the highest paid head of the state and governments in the world. Further, the latest sample survey of household indicates a very disturbing picture between “haves” and “haves not”. The bottom 40 percent of population accounts only 9 percent of total consumption where as top 20 percent gobble up nearly 53 percent. The country is primarily surviving by the remittance of about one billion dollar each year.

King Gyanendra seems determined to retain his traditional exclusive authority, while people are in favor of a new constitution that guarantees rights, resources, and responsibility, accountability at different levels, and empowers people at local level rather than a simple politico-administrative makeover at the central level. Nepal will further suffer by the ad-hoc royal rule as the king is trying to find right answer by solving wrong problems. Its time Nepal learnt from the history of deported kings of Italy, Greece and many European countries where people simply voted against the monarchy as unwanted.

(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to [email protected])

The municipal election held on Wednesday saw a very low voter turn out. The turn out was 20 percent on an average due to the boycott of the mainstream political parties.

According to election Commission (EC), the capital city of Kathmandu and surrounding municipalities witnessed a thin voter turnout. Only 14 percent of the voters cast their ballots in Kathmandu Metropolitan City. Among its three municipalities; Lalitpur sub-metropolitan city, Madhyapur Thimi municipality and Kirtipur municipality registered 18, 13 and 33 percent voter turnout respectively.

In Kathmandu, of the total 300,935 voters, only 45,003 people cast votes. In Lalitpur, 16,626 of 91,440 voters cast votes. Similarly, 3,793 of 29,991 voters voted in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality. In Kirtipur Municipality, out of 23,831 voters, only 7,870 cast their votes, according to the EC.

Nationwide, out of 1,443,310 voters, only 284,225 cast their votes in Wednesday’s election.

Voter turnout in the elections, which were held after seven years, was very low in most of the cities, reports said.

While voter turnout was the highest — 71 per cent — in Gaur Municipality of Rautahat district, the lowest turnout was recorded in Lekhnath Municipality of Kaski district, where only one percent of the voters cast votes.

Voter turnout was eight percent in Khandbari, four percent in Bharatpur, six percent in Pokhara and three percent in Tikapur.

The voter turnout at both Dhangadi and Mahendranagar stood at five percent.

Altogether 152 candidates were on the fray for the posts of mayors while 108 candidates competed for the posts of deputy mayors.

590 candidates fought for the post of ward chairpersons while 741 persons competed for the ward member posts and 191 candidates were on the fray for slots allotted to women.

Out 72 parties registered at the Election Commission, only 22 participated in the elections held in 36 out of 58 municipalities in 43 districts of the county.

Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari(File Photo)

Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari(File Photo)
Despite the low turnout, Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari said, “The elections were held in peaceful atmosphere and the participation of voters was encouraging, despite political hurdles.”

Home Minister Kamal Thapa also said that the sovereign people have done the nation proud by voting to restore sustainable peace and re-energize multiparty democracy despite all threats. He expressed satisfaction over the turnout of the election.

“Despite the Maoists and the alliance call for active boycott of polls, the people have cast their votes with an enthusiastic zeal,” he added.

Meanwhile, the seven-party alliance on Wednesday said that the municipal polls conducted in 36 municipalities across the country were fully boycotted by people and were unsuccessful, adding, “The results of these polls would not be legitimate.”

Issuing a press statement, the alliance’s Central People’s Movement Coordination Committee said, “The drama of the so called election staged by misusing the state force and fund has become a total failure due to the people’s boycott.”

Various human rights organizations have appealed to the Maoists to immediately and unconditionally release all the persons abducted after the clash with the security personnel in Dhankuta district on Tuesday night.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has appealed to the Maoists to release three persons taken hostage from Dhankuta and nine others abducted from other districts like Siraha, Sunsari, Ilam and Kanchanpur.

A press statement issued by the NHRC said, “The NHRC appeals the Maoists to respect international humanitarian laws as per their commitment and immediately free all abductees.”

According to reports, those adducted by the Maoists in Dhankuta include the joint regional administrator of Dhankuta Prem Prasad Sapkota, section officer Fanindramani Pokhrel, register of Appellate Court Dhankuta Parashuram Acharya, section officer Shovakar Regmi, chief of the Agricultural Development Office Sanjay Yadav, Dron Rai, Tularam Pahari, Krishna Bhattarai, Dasharath Rumjali, Lokendra Kuwar, Govinda Mahat, Khageshwor Bhattarai, and policemen Harinaryan Dhakal, Upendralal Yadav and Bhojraj Danuwar.

Other human rights organizations like HimRights LifeLine, Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), Nepal Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON) also called on the Maoists to release the people in their captivity.

One army man and two Maoists were killed when Maoists launched a massive attack in Dhankuta targeting the district administration office, regional administration office and all security agencies in the district including the second brigade of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, the family members of the joint regional administrator, Prem Prasad Sapkota have appealed to the Maoists to immediately release him and urged all to initiate effort for his release.

Holding a press conference in Pokhara on Wednesday, Sapkota’s wife Rita Devi and son Manoj made the appeal in view of his fragile health condition.

According to them, Sapkota suffers from high blood pressure and heart disease.

Rita Devi also urged the human rights organisations, including the United Nations Office of High Commission for Human Rights, the National Human Rights Commission, the Nepal Bar Association and media persons to take the initiative to get her husband released.

The alliance of the seven political parties has condemned the killing of one CPN-UML activist Umesh Chandra Thapa in Ghorai of Dang in mid western region while returning after staging a peaceful demonstration against the municipal polls on Wednesday.

Issuing a joint statement in the capital on Wednesday, the parties declared him a martyr and expressed condolence to his family.

“This attack is not just on Umesh Chandra Thapa but also on all the democracy-loving people and the democratic movement,” said the parties.

The parties have planned a protest meet and rally against the murder at Basantapur in the capital at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Thapa, proprietor of the Swargdwari press. was killed and another CPN-UML activist Krishna Giri was critically injured when a Royal Nepalese Army soldier opened fire at Super Lodge road while they were returning home after organizing a demonstration.

People organized a demonstration in Pyuthan district, Thapa’s hometown, denouncing the killing. They also demanded Thapa be declared a martyr, as he lost his life while fighting against autocracy.

Meanwhile, issuing a press statement, CPN-UML Rapti zonal co-ordination committee, denounced the killing. “We utterly denounce the barbaric act of killing a civilian just due to the ‘lunatic directives’ of Home Minister Kamal Thapa,” the statement said.

The statement also demanded the guilty be immediately brought to book. It also appealed to the public to intensify the movement to root out autocratic monarchy from the country.

The seven party alliance is also planning a protest programme in Ghorai on Thursday against the killing.

In the first international reaction to the Wednesday’s municipal polls, the United States has said that “Nepal’s municipal elections called by the King represented a hollow attempt to legitimize his power.”

Addressing a press briefing in Washington D. C. on Wednesday, spokesman of the US State Department, Sean McCormack, said there was a clear lack of public support for these elections. “ Voter turnout in the capital is estimated at under 25 percent. Outside Kathmandu, turnout was
reportedly half that level in some places,” he said.

The spokesman further said (Nepal) government detained large numbers of political activists before the elections, restricted media and refused to allow independent outside monitors. Maoist intimidation and killing of candidates during the campaign also marred the vote. There is no political cause that justifies the use of violence, he added.

The only way to effectively deal with the threat posed by the Maoists is to restore democracy in Nepal, McCormack said. The US government has also renewed its call on His Majesty the King to release all political detainees and initiate a dialogue with the political parties. “His continuing refusal to take these steps is leading his country further down the path of violence and disorder,” the spokesman said.

Latest reports say nearly 20 percent of the eligible 1.4 million voters took part in the municipal polls that was marked by Maoist violence and the call for boycott by the opposition parties.

The authorities have, however, expressed “satisfaction’ on the conduct of polls saying that it was a democratic exercise.

Two Nepali workers were killed in a mudslide at a construction site in Umm Guwailina of Qatar on Tuesday.

The Nepalese victims have been identified as Tul Bahadur Nepal (22) and Dev Bahadur Sahi (40).

Two other Egyptians Mahmoud Sabit (28) and Hamad Marrai (24) were also killed in the mishap.

Tul Bahadur had arrived in Doha only about a month ago while Dev Bahadur was employed by the firm for three months, the report quoted their colleagues as saying.

Eyewitnesses said the four labourers were trying to clear a five metre high wall of mud and concrete blocks to make way for new construction. However, a seven-metre stretch of the wall gave way and fell over these workers, killing them instantly.

The bodies of the four victims are currently kept at the mortuary of the Hamad General Hospital and officials from Al Bateel Engineering and Construction Co, their employers, were trying to complete formalities related to sending them home for last rites, reports the online edition of The Peninsula, Qatar’s leading English daily.

Two Nepalese workers among five were killed on December 26, when the scaffolding of a building under construction at the Ramada hotel extension site collapsed.

The Indian Embassy has called for the immediate and unconditional release of managers of Surya Nepal Private Limited, a leading Nepal-India joint venture company, abducted by the Maoists.

A press statement issued by the Embassy on Tuesday said, ”The Indian Embassy is deeply concerned that the abducted managers of Surya Nepal Private Limited, a subsidiary of ITC Ltd of India, continue to be held captive by the Maoists.”

The Industrial Security Group, comprising the embassies of France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, the United States and the delegation of the European Commission, along with their bilateral chambers, condemned the abduction and demanded the release of the hostages.

Maoists abducted chief of the manufacturing division of the Surya Nepal, Prabhakar Bikram Shah and managers Damber Mani Limbu and Sarbajit Rana from Chhata Pipara of Bara district Friday evening.

Formerly known as Surya Tobacco Company (P) Ltd., Surya Nepal is the largest private sector company in the country. Its promoters include ITC of India and Soaltee Group of Nepal.

However, Maoists are yet to take the responsibility of their abduction.

Though the disabled people of the country account for 10 percent of the total population, many disabled people are not able to get the basic facility of wheelchairs due to its costs and limited numbers, reports state run news agency Rastriya Samachar Samiti.

Manager of Management Committee of the Disabled Assistance Fund of the Social Welfare Council, Prachand Man Bajracharya said that they are unable to distribute sufficient wheelchairs due to resource crunch. A wheel chair costs as much as Rs 12,000.

According to him, the committee has been providing 5-7 wheelchairs to the disabled every year since 1981 with its own limited resources.

Seven thousand wheel chairs have been distributed to the disabled so far in the past three years with the help of two American organizations working for the disabled.

In Nepal, the Disabled Assistance Fund, Rotary Clubs and Lions’ Club distributes wheel chairs to the disabled people in various occasions.

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (National Democratic Party) led by Home Minister Kamal Thapa is ahead of rest of the small parties that took part in the municipal polls on Wednesday.

People coming of City Hall after acquiring information on the vote counting, amidst tight securing, Thursday morning, Feb 09 06. nepalnews.com

According to the information provided by the Election Commission, out of the results announced for 17 municipalities, RPP (Thapa) candidates have been elected to the post of mayors in eight municipalities and deputy mayors in two municipalities. The only recognized party in the previous election, Nepal Sadbhavana Party has won to the post of mayor in one municipality and deputy mayor in two municipalities. All other elected were independent candidates.

In Lekhnath municipality, less than 3 percent of the voters cast their votes. Of the total 32,644 voters in the municipality, Hari Bahadur Harijan has been declared a winner for the post of Mayor after polling just 401 votes while his nearest rival Chandra Bahadur Ranabhat stood second by bagging 373 votes.

According to the EC, over 72 percent of the total voters cast their ballots in Gaur municipality, the hometown of Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of CPN (UML), while some 35 percent of the total voters turned up in Biratnagar, the hometown of Giorija Prasad Koirala, president of Nepali Congress. Gaur had a total of 16,538 voters and Biragnagar had 95,686 voters.

Of the elected mayors, Dhruba Maharjan of Kirtipur municipality polled the highest votes (5,468) while Bidyadevi Rawal of Tikapur municipality received the lowest (284). Their rivals polled 1,893 and 105 respectively. Kirtipur had a total of 23,831 voters while the number of voters in Tikapur was nearly 24,000.

According to the EC, some 20 percent of the over 1.4 million voters cast their votes in the municipal polls held in 36 municipalities of the country on Wednesday.