The only way to discourage booth capture is for the EC to act tough and not be intimidated by anyone
The Election Commission (EC) is adamant on requiring local representatives who want to contest the May 13 civic polls to resign before they can file their nomination papers and has, thus, moved the Supreme Court seeking to vacate the short-term order against it. On March 22, a single bench of the Supreme Court had issued the stay order in response to a writ petition filed by Chairperson of Helambu Municipality Nima Gyalzen Sherpa. The apex court was to hear both sides a week later and decide whether or not to continue with the stay order against Section 36 of the poll code. As the hearing could not take place on that date, it has been deferred till Sunday next week. With the local elections scheduled less than a month away, time is definitely running out for the candidates, who must file their nomination papers on April 24 and 25. So a definitive verdict by the court is required on Sunday to put the issue to rest.
Despite all its good intentions, some of the provisions in the EC's code of conduct have not gone down well with the candidates aspiring to contest the elections and the public at large. Should the elected representatives be required to quit their posts before filing their nomination papers, their absence will bring official work to a halt in all 753 local levels for at least three weeks or even more. Many of the recommendations and documents related to death certificates, marriage certificates, citizenship and the like require the signature of the ward chairman.
Three weeks - that too if the poll counting goes smoothly and the winners can be dully installed in their respective posts within days - is a long wait for anyone who needs to get work done in a day or two. Also, if the EC's poll code was meant to create a level-playing field for all candidates, then why does the rule not apply to the prime minister and ministers when they contest the elections for the federal parliament? How the EC intends to monitor the cap on the poll expenditure by the candidates remains to be seen as it looks so unrealistic. It is for certain that nearly all the candidates will be violating the code on the poll expenditure limit, and submitting fake expense details.
Meanwhile, the Local Level Elections (Vote Counting) Directive-2022 has defined the circumstances under which a ballot counting centre is considered captured. It has been referred to as any circumstance in which a person or group influences the ballot counting process by resorting to threats or intimidation of the official concerned. This could lead to cancellation of voting at such a centre, with the EC official specifying the venue, date and time for re-voting.
Any act of hooliganism and vandalism does not auger well for the functioning of true democracy, and if not prevented at an early stage, it could very well become an established culture. Re-voting is also a colossal wastage of resources and time of the voters and the election official. The only way booth capture can be discouraged is for the EC to act tough and not be intimidated by the candidates and their parties. In the event of rowdyism leading to cancellation of voting, tough laws are required to cancel the candidature of the offending contender.
Promote local crops
Although Nepal is considered an agricultural country, it imports even cereals such as paddy, rice, wheat and maize worth billions of rupees from India, USA and other countries. Nepal would not need to import these crops if the government were to encourage the farmers to grow them with incentives and provision of irrigation round the year. Nepal can become self-sufficient in cereals if the Tarai region, which is considered the breadbasket, gets irrigation facility. However, the farmers still have to rely on the monsoon rains to plant paddy and wheat.
Against this backdrop, rice and oil processing industrialists have urged the government to encourage domestic products by tightening imports of essentials from foreign countries. Moderate rainfall during the monsoon ensures a good paddy harvest, which is enough to feed the country's total population.
However, traders tend to import long-grained and polished rice to make a profit overnight. This kind of tendency should be discouraged to ensure food security and food sovereignty. The government needs to promote local drops, including marshi rice and legumes of Jumla and other highland areas, so that we no longer need to spend foreign currency for the import of such food items that we can easily grow within the country.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 15, 2022, of The Himalayan Times
