KATHMANDU, May 12: Over 46,000 civil servants have been deployed to the local units in the three provinces where the elections are being held Sunday. Besides the election officers who will conduct the polls, 'adequate security personnel' including Nepal Army have already been mobilized to provide security during elections. Logistics including ballot boxes, voter roll and ballot papers among others have already been transported to the polling centers of provinces--3, 4 and 6.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC), the constitutional election body, has said it has completed all preparations on the ground to hold the first phase of the local elections. The election body has enforced the silent period since Thursday midnight barring political parties from conducting publicity campaigns and urging the media not to run critical news reports about parties and candidates.
"We have completed all preparations for the elections. Our polling officers are just waiting for the voters to turn up at the polling centers. Tomorrow, I will make an appeal to the voters," said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ayodhee Prasad Yadav.
'I will work as people's servant, not their master'
The EC has also said all logistical and administrative preparations for the polls have been completed. "Half of the voter ID cards have been distributed to the voters. All voters should collect their cards prior to exercising their democratic right," said CEC Yadav.
Altogether 49,337 candidates are contesting the elections being held for 13,556 posts in 283 local units of three provinces. The new election laws formulated in the context of the country adopting the new federal setup have ensured a larger participation of Dalits and marginalized communities in local governments. The total number of women candidates stands at 19,322 while the male candidates number 30,005. The second round of election will be held in the remaining four provinces- 1, 2, 5 and 7 on June 14.
In view of the elections, the EC has restricted public vehicles from plying the road on the election day. Only press vans, ambulances and other vehicles accredited, however, can be used without restriction.
The EC plans to begin the vote counting immediately after the voting is over. As per the laws, the election body has delegated the authority of vote counting to the returning officers soon after the voting process concludes. "Before vote counting, the ballot boxes should be brought to the centers of the local units. Some returning officers can begin counting the votes immediately after the voting although it may take some time to collect the ballot boxes in the remote areas," said Election Commissioner Narendra Dahal.
Commissioner Dahal expected that the results of the elections will be made public within a couple of days. Vote counting, according to commissioner Dahal, will take place in all 283 local units. "We have already instructed the returning officers to begin vote counting in the local units. They can do their work [vote counting] immediately after making an agreement with the parties contesting the elections," said Dahal.
Nepal is conducting the first round of local elections in 283 local units of three provinces after a gap of nearly 20 years. Local bodies were being run without elected peoples' representatives since 2002 after the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba refused to extend the term of local bodies elected in 1997. The new local units will have their own executive power, will formulate their own laws and exercise judicial rights.
