Nepal fears of violence as election date nears

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Nepal fears of violence as election date nears

(Xinhua) 18:27, October 23, 2013

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KATHMANDU, Oct. 23 -- As the election date draws closer, fears of violence remain a serious threat to free and fair Nov. 19 Constituent Assembly (CA) election, political parties and security experts said here on Wednesday.

Lately, more cases of election-related violence have been reported at the different parts of the country, creating a sense of terror and uncertainly among the Nepalese voters. There are kinds of election-related violence now happening in the Himalayan country.

First, there is an increasing clash between the political parties that have already launched the election campaign and those who are against the election, principally CPN-Maoist, a breakaway from the UCPN (Maoist) Party.

The CPN-Maoist, which has opposed the upcoming election, has launched an anti-election campaign and is engaged in activities to obstruct the election. In some places, the CPN-Maoist has even attacked cadres of other parties.

The party has warned people not to vote in the Nov. 19 election, threatening to harm them if they go to the polls.

The second kind of violence is among the parties who have opted to join in the election. The cadres of big parties such as the UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, and CPN-UML are attacking each other and obstructing the election campaign.

A high level police official told Xinhua that clashes among poll participating parties have escalated on the run-up to the Nov. 19 elections.

The third kind of violence, according to security agencies, is the possible attacks to election candidates by unknown armed outfits in the southern belt, which borders with India. There are dozens of armed groups in the southern belt threatening the Nov. 19 election polls.

CPN-UML election candidate Mohammad Alam, who was seriously injured after an unidentified gunman shot him at southern belt, died on Oct. 11. This incident has raised a sense of insecurity among the election candidates.

On Wednesday, an unidentified group torched a vehicle used by UCPN (Maoist) candidate Bishnu Poduel in the western Nepal. "Some elements are attacking us as our position is getting stronger across the country," said Bishnu Poduel, whose vehicle was torched by an unidentified man.

The UCPN (Maoist) candidate said such violent activities have raised a question on whether Nepal is really capable of holding a free, peaceful and fair election.

National Human Right Commission, a constitutional body mandated to monitor country's human right situation, on Wednesday urged all the political parties not to create terror and violence in the election.

"Such violence will create an obstacle for the people to freely cast their votes in a fair environment. Increasing violence is unfortunate to the country," the commission said in a press statement.

Security experts have warned that deployment of the national army for the purpose of providing election security will only invite further conflict and terror in the country. "After the deployment of army, the general public has felt a sense of insecurity," Bishnu Raj Upreti, a security expert said in a public function.

In the 2008 election, the Nepalese army were not deployed for security purposes but this time, the government has mobilized the army since other security agencies are not enough to provide security. In the 2008 CA election, the country was faced with violence, including the murder of one election candidate.