NRN election: Challenges of reaching out to voters

Written by Indra Adhikari

Rallies, colourful posters, announcement through loudspeakers are some of the usual scenes during election time in developing countries. Here in Nepal, the style applies not only for political parties but for student bodies, trade unions and even associations of the schools and colleges.

(From left) Candidates of the president of Non-resident Nepali Association (NRNA) Ram Pratap Thapa, Bhim Udas and Dev Man Hirachan at an interaction held at Reporters Club, Kathmandu, Wednesday, Oct 07 09. NRNA Global Conference is to be held Oct 13-15. nepalnews.com/ANA

However, for a population stretched over a vast area of landscape – across the seven seas and in six continents – these traditional means of election campaigning are certainly not possible. Non Resident Nepalis Association (NRNA), which has now expanded up to 55 countries with over 2.5 million Nepali migrants, has been facing the challenge of candidate-voters interaction. The association’s history of six years has set the trend of consensus leadership, but electoral fight seems to be unavoidable for a new leadership in its fourth convention to be in Kathmandu shortly.

Few days of campaigning ahead of Kathmandu’s gathering are obviously not sufficient to garner votes from such a large population. Considering the importance of meeting with voters, the NRN future leaders here in Kathmandu are wasting no time meeting possible voters even at night and early mornings.

By provision of the NRNA statute, one person casting his vote during the convention represents 10 persons from his country. Such a provision was introduced considering the difficulty for all NRN members to attend the convention, NRN leaders say.

Comparing to what we practice at home during election periods, NRNA election campaigning has been cleaner and fairer. “This is not a political body, not divided over ethnic issues and not even has the problems of religious or other forms of division that could be used as instruments during elections. We strive to remain as such,” says vice presidential candidate Jiba Lamichhane, a well established businessman from Russia.

Since the institution is still young and this is the first time NRN heavyweights are fighting for any post, electioneering fever has not griped the association. “We are still making efforts for consensus leadership,” says presidential candidate Bhim Udas.

Another presidential candidate Dev Man Hirachan also says the candidates are not in such a fierce battle as has been perceived in Nepal.

For candidates, seeking votes and meeting voters is the most difficult task. Physical contact with all voters is fairly a daunting task. On top of that, NRN leaders are busy in their personal engagements and have less time to visit countries and meet the voters physically.

Lamichhane says attending conventions and gatherings of National Coordination Committee (NCC) and regional conferences are the only means to reach out to the voters. Still difficulty persists in attending all NCC gatherings. He said since his announcement of candidature he has attended only 20 NCC gatherings. Udas and Hirachan have also adopted similar strategies.

Email and public announcement in media are other means to reach out to voters for these candidates. NepaliHorizon is an ideal forum for NRNs for making their announcement. Udas says he missed that opportunity. Nevertheless, he has circulated as many emails as he has in his list with the message that reads:

“I am presenting myself as a candidate for the next President of the NRN in the upcoming global conference in Nepal. With experience comes knowledge, and my numerous years at the helm of the organisation has only strengthened my commitment to the NRN movement and the Nepali Diaspora. I feel that I am able and willing to lead the organisation and wish to continue devoting my time and energy to serve you and the Nepali Diaspora worldwide.”

Most candidates project themselves in the same manner – their years of involvement in NRN, their experiences and knowledge which might be helpful for leading the only global organisation of Nepalis.

Things have changed a lot and media technology has superseded the way candidates reach out to the people. Youtube, blogs, personal websites, Twitter, Facebook and similar other means have widened the scope of campaigning floors. Ram Pratap Thapa from Germany who is also running for the NRNA president has his new site to present his views while Udas picks up the social networking site Facebook to send his words to voters. Lamichhane and Hirachan are yet to get used to these new technologies.

For voters, unlike what we have experienced, candidates’ ability to speak in front of a mass, messages on the posters on the walls and size of rallies are not indicators to choose an able person. It is rather the experiences, knowledge and personal capability acquired through his or her career and ability to deal with problems determine an ideal leader. The seas, borders and mountains that divide the NRNs compel them to adopt these new and cleaner strategies during elections, be it they are limitations from some less developed countries. Can this be a source of inspiration for political parties and other organisations in Nepal to learn from this cleaner and fair way of campaigning? nepalnews.com

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santosh shrestha - nrn

|41.247.149.xxx |2009-10-22 18:19:04

i know bhim udas ,he is a verywonder person to be a president of nrn.i support
to bhim udas.

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