Election code violations. 
One political party using force to disrupt a peaceful election rally of another party is a clear case of violation of the election code of conduct. It is also undemocratic behavior. On Tuesday, cadres of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) pelted stones on a CPN-UML mass rally in Janakpur that was led by former prime minister and senior UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal. Increasingly, Nepal was himself in breach of election code as he had appeared in another rally in Birgunj, on Monday, wearing the insignia of his party. It does not behoove a leader of Nepal’s stature to be seen so openly violating election code. But even more problematic is RJPN’s efforts to disrupt a peaceful rally and the excuse of its cadres for doing so. Talking to Republica, RJPN Janakpur chapter leader Sanjay Singh tried to justify the disruption saying that it was in retaliation of UML stand on constitution amendment and the RJPN “will not let UML organize any election programs in Madhes”. This is not done. RJPN agreed to take part in the three sets of elections even without the amendment. It thus agreed to play by the rules of the electoral game. Having done so, it cannot pick and choose electoral rules it will abide by. 

To be fair, in the past, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) have also resorted to force to disrupt each other’s election-related activities. In the lead up to the three sets of election, we are likely to see more such incidents. But it is not a principled stand of any of these parties to systematically disrupt electoral activities of rival parties. This is why Tuesday’s incident and the reaction of RJPN leaders to it is troubling. If the RJPN is unhappy with UML’s position on constitution amendment, it has the freedom of going to the people with its own amendment agenda. If enough people believe in the constitutional road charted by RJPN, they will vote it into power. And that is the way you establish your agenda in a democracy. Of course, UML rank and file is as responsible for ensuring that there are no violent election-related clashes. For instance, while campaigning in Province 2 for the upcoming local elections, they should desist from making provocative statements about RJPN so that they don’t further destabilize an already tense environment in Madhes. 

If there are violent clashes along political or, even more dangerously, along communal lines in Province 2 ahead of the third phase of local election on September 18, things could soon spiral out of control, in the process jeopardizing the prospects of all three elections. The RJPN leadership must thus clearly instruct their cadres on the ground to exercise maximum restraint, and ditto for the UML. Again, with all the important political actors in Nepal having chosen the election route, they should be ready to accept people’s verdict expressed through their votes. We hope that our political leaders are mature enough to behave responsibly on election-eve. The Election Commission, for its part, must always be on its guard in order to be able to quickly flag code violations and punish the culprits. 

 
• violence