KATHMANDU, April 28: Various development partners including the UN, EU and the World Bank have asked the government to continue efforts to forge political agreement to ensure participation of wide sections of people in the upcoming elections.
While maintaining that the local elections are crucial in revitalizing democracy at the grassroots level and strengthening government accountability as there has not been local level election for the past twenty years, they have suggested to the government and the ruling parties to continue negotiations to bolster credibility of the elections and facilitate the implementation of the constitution.
“With less than a month remaining for the elections, we encourage efforts to continue to forge a political agreement to enable the participation of as wide a section of the population as possible and broaden support to the process,” said the joint statement issued by the development partners on Thursday. “This will bolster the credibility of the elections and facilitate the implementation of the constitution.”
Those issuing the statement include Embassy of Australia, Embassy of Denmark, Embassy of Germany, Delegation of the EU, Embassy of Finland, Embassy of France, Embassy of Norway, Embassy of the United Kingdom, Embassy of the USA, UN in Nepal and the World Bank.
While lauding the efforts of all stakeholders including the Election Commission, the government, civil society and the political parties in preparing for the historic local elections in Nepal, they have called on all parties to mutually respect the freedom of peaceful expression and assembly, and individual voters' rights as laid out in Nepal's laws and constitution. “We also call on the security forces to comply with existing national and international standards when carrying out their duties,” the statement further said.