“It would be best if a mechanism comprising all the political parties is mobilized for poll security,” Uprety told Republica. “Though the proposal sounds new, such practices are found in Mexico,” he said. [break]
Asked whether or not the Election Commission (EC) would accept deployment of temporary security personnel for election security, he said, “The commission needs to hold discussion on the issue if the government comes up with the plan,” adding, “We must know where these security personnel will be brought from.”
Uprety maintained that EC has not given any consent to the government for mobilizing temporary security personnel for the upcoming CA election.
He said guarantee of full security for the polls is a major concern of the constitutional body. “Both the government and EC want to conduct CA polls in a single day while there are voices against use of temporary policemen for poll security,” Uprety said, adding, “The government should come up with a middle way acceptable to all.”
Asked why mobilizing Nepal Army (NA) personnel for poll security had been considered an option, Uprety said mobilization of army is not considered a good option internationally and it has not been practiced in Nepal in the previous elections.
Three tiers of security were deployed during previous elections in the country. Nepal Police was deployed inside the polling stations and the Armed Police Force (APF) formed the second layer while the third tier was manned by NA personnel.
According to sources, if 10 security personnel are deployed at each polling station, 61,000 temporary security personnel will be needed.
Nepal Police has informed EC that it can deploy 43,552 personnel, while the APF has said it would deploy 24,000 personnel during the polls. Nepal Police wants 60,000 temporary personnel for the polls while APF wants 9,000.
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