The attack on Lalitpur mayoral candidate, Dal Bahadur Rai, and the abductions of some other candidates elsewhere standing for the February 8 civic polls threaten to cast scenes for a far bloodier picture to emerge. Though Rai, undergoing treatment in a hospital, is reported to be out of danger, there are no reasons to believe that the casualties will not grow in the next eight days. Violence is a bad thing in any form, whether employed by the government or by those opposed to it. Therefore, Maoist violence against candidates cannot be condoned as it infringes on an individual’s fundamental right to take part in or boycott the elections. That said, the government’s highhandedness and use of armed strength against peaceful demonstrators against ‘regression’ and the arguably farcical elections need also to be criticised in the same breath.

Twenty-four mayors and 31 vice-mayors have been elected unopposed because of the lack of contestants. For many seats, the elections cannot take place on February 8 as there are no candidates. Both the fear of Maoist reprisals and the lack of trust in the government’s bona fides would explain this phenomenon. Some of the candidates who did not withdraw their names on Saturday are reported to be saying that they have nothing to do with the elections for one or another reason, including coercion, and some of those elected unopposed, for example, in Bhaktapur, are in the same predicament. The army is to be mobilised to prevent anyone from disrupting the polls, which are being actively boycotted by the Maoists and the political parties. This can only mean that violence will escalate in the run-up to the polls and afterward.

Under such circumstances, Nepal’s human rights record and its overall image could deteriorate further, leading to greater alienation of the government and the greater possibility of international punitive action. Both the Nepali people and the international audience must have got, by now, a fairly good idea of what kind of election Nepal is going to have on February 8. It is for those bent on going through the motions of holding the polls by any means to evaluate the consequences of such an electoral exercise. But those elected unopposed and those who will be declared winners will not, in all probability, be able to discharge the duties of their office. The political parties will try to see to it, hopefully in a peaceful manner, and the Maoists definitely through the language of force. The government cannot put them under its armed protection at all times. What will it do then?