Back to square one

Election Commission forced to pander to populist stand



The entire purpose with which the drive to prepare a new voter list was started on Sept 15 has been defeated with the Election Commission (EC) succumbing to the pressure from Madhes-based parties to ironically allow the existing voter list as one of the basis for individual identification. Since the EC itself had earlier claimed that it doubts the authenticity of 5 million voters who made it to the existing list prepared before the Constituent Assembly (CA) election, and the premise under which it started the current process of preparing a new list, it is preposterous as to why the other political parties did not lend the EC the necessary support so that it could have stuck to its stand.



There may have been some validity in the demand of the Madhes-based parties that a citizenship certificate alone should not be the basis of identification while readying a new list as in that case many genuine Nepali citizens who may still not have availed a citizenship certificate would have been denied their right to enfranchisement. So, the EC agreeing to consider other alternatives to citizenship certificate such as land certificate, driving license or other documents that prove that a person is a Nepali citizen is fine. The only question is: Why keep the faulty voter list also as a basis for identification?



It is not hard to discern that a long-term political interest is at play here. By doing this, the Madhes-based parties are ensuring that they do not lose even a single voter – irrespective of whether they made it to the voter list legally or illegally – who voted for them in the CA election in which they came out with flying colors. Narrow political interests have once again triumphed over what is correct and the right thing to do.



Considering everything, we just have one point to make: Scrap the provision of allowing the existing voter list as a basis of identification. There is no rhyme or reason in wasting time, taxpayers’ money and human resources in preparing a document that is faulty. We made formidable mistakes by pandering to many populist decisions soon after the success of Janaandolan II and before the CA elections. Maybe, as we look back, some of those decisions were the demand of the political environment then. But there is no reason for repeating such mistakes when we are now in a position to avoid them.

Related story

RSP launches signature campaign in support of Rabi Lamichhane