KATHMANDU: The Election Commission has said election observers, both domestic and international, will be punished if they fail to abide by the code of conduct issued by the EC.

According to EC Joint Secretary Mukunda Sharma, the EC will put in place a monitoring team which will monitor the activities of election observers.

Their details will also be forwarded to district administration offices, which will keep tabs on their activities. “If code violation is proven, the observers’ identity cards will be revoked and they will be blacklisted,” he said, adding once blacklisted, the observers will not be permitted to monitor future elections.

Former Chief Election Commissioner Nila Kantha Upreti said several observers had faced action for violation of election code during the previous constituent assembly election. “However, a negligible number of international observers faced action, while the number of domestic observers facing punishment was comparatively higher,” he said.