PRELIMINARY SUMMARY REPORT
Election Observation of CONSTIUENT ASSEMBLY
1. Introduction
General Election Observation Committee (GEOC) headed by Himalaya Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana has observed Constituent Assembly election held on 10 April 2008. This preliminary report is based on sampling procedure. Our observation covered 35 districts, 70 electoral constituencies, 40 municipalities and 700-village development committees (VDCs). Including 35 national observers, 880 observers were engaged. The report focuses on pre-election, Election Day and post-election activities.
2. Methodology
GEOC is an alliance of seven different NGOs viz. Nepal Law Society, International Commission of Jurist/Nepal, Ex-Civil Servant Association, Election Observation Foundation, Nepal Press Institute, Nepal Citizens' Forum and Rural Development Foundation. This alliance observed parliamentary election of 2048, 2051 and 2056 and local election of 2049 and 2054.
This preliminary report is based on the observation made by different observers in the selected districts. Our observation covered 35 districts from Mountain, Hill and Tarai, 70 electoral constituencies, 40 municipalities and 700 village Development Committees (VDCs). In total, 880 observers were engaged in CA election observation process. District level observers prepared a summary report depending upon the reports sent by VDC, Municipality, Constituency level observers. With the compilations of all district level reports, GEOC prepared a preliminary summary report considering the various facts and figures of CA election process. The report focuses on pre-election, election day and post-election day activities.
3. Election situation, polling centres, security and voters
Reports of intimidation of voters and electoral violence during the pre-election period were received from many districts. However, the CA election was held in a remarkably peaceful and orderly manner excepting episodes of electoral violence in a few districts. The team assigned to conduct election including polling officers, security personnel's, volunteers, observers and party representatives functioned efficiently and tactfully. All party meeting was held before Election Day, during and post election days at each polling centre, which greatly contributed to smooth polling. The lion's share of credit for 60 percent plus voter turn out must be given to Nepalese voters who participated in polling despite negative environment during pre-election period. Goodwill, cooperation and assistance from national and international observers groups also contributed to successful CA election).
The most hard working and dominant group was Maoist all over the country. The emic and etic perspective of voters was different in many cases. The regional Tarai groups violated election code of conduct and influenced ethnic voters in many ways. Fear prevailed in mass scale among the voters so that they were not free to choose their desired candidates and parties.
4. Election violence
In many cases, physical assault, abductions, intimidation had taken place, which frequently influenced the inexplicable results of CA election. On the eve of Election Day, seven Maoist activists were killed due to the eruption of conflict between Maoist and Nepali Congress cadres. This event gave a serious message on national scale, among the voters. Such acts of violence and killing presaged that the Election Day would not be peaceful. However, this did not affect the peaceful process of election. A few case of breaking of ballot boxes, tearing of ballot papers, tussle among the supporters of candidates and firing by security persons took place during the Election Day, leading to the postponement and re-scheduling of polling in 106 polling centers in 21 constituencies of 12 districts, including Siraha, Baglung, Arghakhanchi, Nuwakot, Dhading and Chitwan. In Dhading district, rescheduled election was held successfully but while bringing ballot boxes to district headquarter, anonymous forces looted 18 ballot boxes. This caused the announcement of the third schedule for polling. Nevertheless, overall, such 131 cases of repelling are merely 0.05 percent of polling that took place in 21800 polling centers. Commitment to vote on the part of Nepalese voters was the major factor in the remarkably successful election although the security situation was fragile.
5. Violation of the code of conduct
Candidates of different political parties in many places crossed election expenditure limit. During the silent period when campaigning was stopped, voters were influenced on religious ground and by economic incentives. Such cases were reported from different parts of country. Proxy voting, under age voting also took place in many places. In the name of absentees, votes were cast. In few cases, the same person voted up to eleven times (Syanga-Rangbhang and Gorkha). This was reported to the polling officers and political parties but they explained to the National Observers that this was done with the consensus of concerned stakeholders. Some volunteers were also engaged in canvassing for political parties on the polling day. Thus the Election Code of Conduct was implemented only partially. To avoid serious political dispute, political parties agreed to keep quiet on violation of the Code of Conduct.
6. Vote counting
Vote counting was late due to the unavailability of ballot box from remote areas. Delay in collecting the ballot box was due to weak support and lack of vehicles from concerned authorities. While counting vote, dispute arose due to the unsigned ballot paper cast in the election in a few cases. Bad behavior of stakeholders was also noticed. This caused postponement of counting many times.
7. Pros and cons of election process
The twice re-scheduled CA election was ultimately held on 10th April peacefully. Credit goes to the Election Commission, Government of Nepal, all staff assigned to conduct in the election, security personnel, journalists, observers both international and national and especially the voter's commitment as well as enthusiasm.
Not all political parties challenged the wrongdoing and domination of Maoists. It was accepted silently to avoid political conflict and turmoil.
8. Suggestions
Following are recommendation for concerned stakeholders:
a. Election Commission
· Election Commission should not hesitate to take hard steps against those who violate election acts and code of conducts;
· Government school teachers, staffs and representatives of NGOs and para-statal organization staff should not be hired in election process;
· Government University lectures who have more than five years service should be mobilized in election process in the forth-coming elections;
· Voters' identity card system should be checked compulsorily;
· Minimum voters age should be reduced to 16 years instead of current 18 years.
b. Government
· Law and order situation should be maintained politically, economically, socially and morally. Mobilization of police and security personals is not the only way to maintain security. It should be taken in broader security perspective;
· Capability of security personnel and appropriate technology should be used in forth coming election;
· All round security is pre-requisite for election security. Government and Election Commission oversight and monitoring are imperative;
· On hiring election security personnel priority should be given to ex-army and ex-policemen;
· Voters' Identity Card should contain citizenship card number, polling booth name and voter's serial number;
· Space to vote should be enlarged;
· Voters list should be updated every year in consultation with the head of the households or concerned individual, in a scientific manner keeping in view that it should not be double counted and eligible voters should not be omitted.
c. Civil Society
· Civil Society should continuously be in action for creating free, fair and neutral election environment. It should mobilize government, political parties, candidates and election related stakeholders throughout the election period;
· Civil society should not act as sister organization of any political parties.
d. Media
· Media should continuously focus on releasing and disseminating information and problems of priority groups like Madheshi Janajati, Aadivashi, Dalit and Remote people;
· Media should take continuous priority to eradicate unseen intimidation prevailing in every sector of society.
e. Observation organization and observers
· Election observer should follow their professional ethics and they should not associate with any political parties directly and indirectly;
· Election Commission without hesitation should nullify the identity card of the politically biased observers;
· Election Commission should not issue the observer's status to technical/medical professionals as well as political party workers and activists;
· Only Bachelor's level passed individual should be permitted to be National Observers in all election.
f. Political parties and Candidates
· Political parties should be forward looking, dynamically motivated and visionary;
· There should be high-level tolerance among candidates and political parties both in words and action regarding ideology, policy and program;
· Leadership quality like good manner and behavior should be developed among cadres;
· Situation of safer access to voters should be created.
Kim Jong Il Inspects KPA Artillery Company
Kim Jong Il, general secretary chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, inspected an artillery company of KPA Unit 109 honored with the title of O Jung Hup-led Seventh Regiment.
After acquainting himself with the company's performance of guard duty, he appreciated the efforts made by its soldiers, expressing satisfaction over the fact that they are fulfilling their combat duty with vigilance and in a responsible manner.
The soldiers of the company have grown to be a-match-for-a hundred fighters in the course of waging a dynamic drive to learn from the fighting spirit of the forerunners including heroes Ri Su Bok and Kang Ho Yong, he said, stressing the need for all of them to become heroes in the sacred battle to defend the country by glorifying every moment of their military service with praiseworthy feats.
He took warm care of the service and living of the soldiers, going round various places of the company.
Interaction program organized by Tamang Society of Greater Washington (TSGW) and America Nepal Society (ANS)
Deepak Tamang is a development professional from Nepal. He has nearly 30 years of experience working as senior development professional and expert in the field of Development and Environment. He has traveled, worked, talked and written extensively in various parts of the world and has visited 36 countries in many parts of Asia, Europe and North America. Schooled in Darjeeling and Calcutta, India (and influenced deeply by Gandhian and Buddhist philosophy as well as values of Mother Theresa), United Kingdom, and USA - he has both an engineering and management degree. He developed and taught a course on non-profit management at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok. He maintains wide network with NGOs and Civic Society Organizations in many parts of the world.
Based in Kathmandu, Nepal, Deepak Tamang is the Executive Director of Search-Nepal (a development and environment NGO in Nepal working throughout the Asian Region www.searchnepal.org). Currently, he is a senior international research fellow at the World Forest Center in Portland, Oregon and also a Guest Faculty at Department of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis. He has lectured and held seminars widely in many parts of USA through various Universities while in America.
In his capacity as a fellow at the World Forest Center, Deepak Tamang is touring various States of America, meeting relevant professionals and pursuing his research in forest management practices and sustainable development.
PSU Approves Formation Of Nepalese Students Association
On the officials at Portland State University approved the requests to form Nepalese Students Association (NSA).
‘The (Nepalese) students would work on to form the committee to head this organization next week as all are busy during the last hours of this spring semester’, says Sarita Sitaula- a graduate student at PSU-Department of Chemestry.
The International Night has been scheduled for Friday May 16 at the University and some of the Nepalese students are planning to participate in the Nepalese fashion show; and as of now, they’re also looking forward to include extra activities / performance related to Nepal and the Nepalese culture.
Sudin Maharjan, a student with Electrical and Computer Engineering major, and a member of PSU International Cultural Service Program, will be participating in the Nepalese fashion show, said Ms Sitaula.
Prime Minister General Thein Sein pays courtesy call on King Bhumibol Adulyadej
NAY PYI TAW, Prime Minister General Thein Sein paid a courtesy call on Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Chitralada Palace in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday.
Together with Prime Minister General Thein Sein, Minister for Foreign Affairs U Nyan Win, Minister for National Planning and Economic Development U Soe Tha, Myanmar Ambassador to Thailand U Ye Win, Director-General Col Thant Shin of the Government Office were present on the occasion.
Together with the Thai King were Thai Prime Minister Mr Samak Sundaravej, the Minister of Tourism and Sports and Thai Ambassador to Myanmar Mr Bonsarn Bunnag.
First, the Thai King said that the goodwill visit of the Myanmar Prime Minister would bring about the improvement of mutual trust between the two nations. He thanked Myanmar for warmly welcoming Thai Princess Sirindhorn, who visited Myanmar three times.
Prime Minister General Thein Sein said Head of State Senior General Than Shwe recalled his two visits to Thailand. He had conveyed the message of Head of State Senior General Than Shwe for the health and prosperity of the Thai King. He continued to explain the development of Myanmar and collaboration on cementing friendship between Myanmar and Thailand.
Concerning democratization process, the Thai King said the examples of some western powers stood witness to the fact that too much democracy was not good. So much talk and less work was not either. The western big nations accused Thailand of being weak in exercising democracy. The democracy being practised by Thailand was better than the one they were practising.
He added that Myanmar was rich in natural resources and close cooperation between Myanmar and Thailand would contribute to the benefits of the two nations.
NAJA Holds Annual Meet
The annual meeting of Nepal America Journalist Association at Aagan Restaurant in Harrisburg PA.
May is also the World Press Freedom Day, as it serves as an occasion to inform the public of violations of the right to freedom of expression and as a reminder that many journalist brave death or jail to bring people their daily news.
The program was attended by over 50 journalists from US and Canada. The program was chaired by Girish Pokharel, the President of NAJA, while Yogesh Upadhyaya was the chief guest.
Other speakers on the program were Tarun Paudel, Achyut Wagle, Shiv Prakash, Shree Om Rodan, Shaswat Parajuli, Sahadev Paudel, Shekhar Dhungel, and Deepak Adhikari. There are around 160 journalist across US and Canada affiliated to various mass medium.
Gate Gourmet and ARINC in Strategic Partnership for On-Board Sales Programs
Annapolis, Maryland, USA, ARINC Incorporated and Gate Gourmet, a global leader in airline catering and onboard retail management, today said they will work together to market on-board sales programs for the world’s airlines and passenger rail systems.
Under a memorandum just signed, Gate Gourmet will offer ARINC’s cutting-edge SkyBuyTM sales technology as the standard in its buy-on-board programs, while ARINC will work exclusively with Gate Gourmet on outsourced catering and buy-on-board projects. The two companies plan to introduce SkyBuy to retail programs already under way at three leading airlines—easyJet and Norwegian in Europe, and Jetstar in Asia.
SkyBuy sets a new industry standard for onboard retail management through the use of a wireless point-of-sale system to streamline in-flight sales transactions. With SkyBuy, airlines are able to sell food and beverages, in-flight entertainment, duty-free items, rail passes—even tickets to ground shows and entertainment—with the flexibility of payment by credit card, cash, or smartcard, and in multiple currencies.
SkyBuy uses a new wireless communications solution—ARINC’s patent-pending Mobile Communications Gateway—to upload sales data automatically into back-office systems, thus maximizing revenue and transparency while shrinking administrative costs.
“Gate Gourmet will now take its success with ‘buy-on-board’ programs for our airline
customers to the next level with SkyBuy,” stated Herman Anbeek, Senior Vice President.
China's migrant children increase in number, visibility
Geng Ting, 11, had mixed feelings when she left her hometown three years ago to join her parents, who work here.
"I was happy to rejoin my parents but unwilling to leave friends I'd grown up with," said Geng. She came to Beijing from Gushi County in Henan Province and is now a fifth-grader at the Longhai School for children of migrant workers in Daxing District, Beijing.
Nobody knows exactly how many migrant children there are in Beijing, but about 400,000 are eligible to attend school, according to Ma Chentong, deputy director of the Beijing Women and Children Working Committee.
Experts advocate the registration of migrant children nationwide as a way to improve their lot.
Chen Xiurong, deputy chairman of the All-China Women's Federation and a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), said that the fifth national census in 2000 showed there were about 19.8 million migrant children.
"But the current figure could be far different, as migrant workers have almost doubled over the past decade," Chen said. As with migrant children, there's no definitive figure on the number of migrant workers, but some estimates put the number at 10 percent of China's 1.5 billion population.
Pilot projects to register migrant children are being supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Wuxi in Jiangsu Province, Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province since 2001 and in Beijing since 2007.
Police usually only collect information on migrants over 16 years of age for public security purposes, but migrant children are often overlooked. The UNICEF-backed project is being implemented in partnership with the Office of the National Working Committee for Children and Women (NWCCW) under the State Council.
"The registration system developed by the project makes these children more visible to the local authorities and facilitates their protection and referral to services," said Zhang Yali, Plan of Action and Promotion of Child Rights Program Officer of the UNICEF Office for China, "Knowing the exact number of the children of migrants can help the government arrange resources for their education or health."
Instability is a reality for this population, said Dong Laifu, who funded the Longhai School for migrant children. "At least 200 students leave the school each year or about one seventh of all students."
Geng Ting has been at five schools in three years in Beijing and doesn't like it. "I sometimes lose my temper with my parents for changing schools so often as I've just built up relationships with teachers and friends and then I have to leave. It means I have to do this all over again."
Also, she said, some schools weren't up to standard and her parents wanted to find better ones for her.
It is difficult to convince many migrant parents to register their children, as they fear the information will be used to levy a family planning penalty.
"Most migrant families have one or two children, but some families have more than three and they fear that registration will be used to fine them. They refuse to fill in the forms or claim these are relatives' children," said Wu Lihua, director of the Shibalidian Migration Population Control Office in Chaoyang District.
Benefits for registration could ease these fears. Zhang said that registration should result in more services, such as fare discounts on public transport -- as local children get -- or insurance.
"We explain that it will give them more access to public services, such as free vaccinations," Wu said.
Free medical check-ups, sports kits, books and computers are also provided to some schools with migrant children in the UNICEF pilot cities.
