February 17, 2006

Despite the futile exercise, credible and widely participated elections still remain the most peaceful, constitutional and legitimate means of restoring democracy

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

In spite of scores of points against it, the February 8 municipal polls were able to underscore one positive aspect – that the security forces are quite capable of providing security to the election.

Women casting their votes : Low turnout

The election, which was held in the backdrop of violence by the Maoists, went on peacefully barring one incident in Dang where a worker of Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) succumbed to bullet fired by security forces.

Contrary to fears of widespread violence and terror, the polls went on relatively peacefully even as the whole exercise was rendered futile after the government failed to take the major political parties into its confidence. It was the boycott by the major political parties, more than anything else, that compelled the people to refrain from coming out in large number to cast their votes.

In a country where voter turnout usually surpassed even 60 percent, this time though it shrank to historic low point at 21 percent. In the absence of well-known and familiar candidates, people refrained from exercising their fundamental rights.

The election has re-vindicated that without the participation of political parties, it ceases to have full meaning and utility.

Regardless of the outcome of February 8 exercise, credible and widely participated elections preceded by dialogue among constitutional forces, however, continues to remain the most viable means of restoring the derailed democracy and constitution back on track.

Low Turnout

Amid the active boycott by the seven political parties and physical threats by the Maoists, there was an expected low turn out of voters in the municipal polls held in 36 municipalities across the country.
While the government seems ‘excited’ with the voter turnout – which it wishes to term as a significant number given the threats by opposition – the political parties are pleased with the low turnout. “The so-called election that was held by detaining leaders, party workers and civil society leaders and by misusing the resources of state coffer and power has failed totally,” the statement by the seven parties said.

The capital city and surrounding municipalities witnessed lowest turnouts. In Kathmandu , 14 percent votes were cast whereas Lalitpur, Thimi and Kirtipur municipalities saw 18, 13 and 33 percent voter turnout respectively. The voter turn out was the highest at 71 percent in Gaur municipality of Rautahat district whereas municipalities like Lekhnath, Bharatpur, Khandbari, Tikapur and Pokhara received less than ten percent of votes. Biratnagar saw 36 percent turn out. Across the county, of the total 1480238 voters, only 308270 votes were cast.

Interestingly, in the election that was not participated by any major political parties, the pro-government faction of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) led by Home Minister Kamal Thapa and independent candidates have won in most of the seats. The party has bagged 21 mayoral seats (including some as unopposed) and 19 deputy mayors out of the total 58 municipalities. Independent candidates have bagged 27 mayoral and 20 deputy mayor seats followed by pro-government faction of Nepal Sadbhavana Party. Rajaram Shrestha of RPP (Thapa) won the seat of Kathmandu mayor whereas independent candidate Prem Lal Maharjan has bagged the seat of Lalitpur mayor.

However, on the other hand, the Election Commission has stated that the elections were held in free and fair manner. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Keshab Raj Rajbhandari said, “The Election Commission has conducted the election as per the provisions in the Constitution. This is the election held by Nepalese for Nepalese. There is no question why it should be illegitimate,” said Rajbhandari. He added that low voter turn out could not be construed as the barometer of illegitimacy. He cited the example of elections in Kashmir two years ago when only 11 percent votes had been cast and that of Kuwait where only 22 percent votes were cast.

Huge International Criticism

In an unprecedented wave of international criticism, almost all major foreign friends of Nepal have criticized the election terming it as illegitimate since it could not ensure the involvement of political parties.

The United States has termed the municipal polls as hollow attempt to legitimize King’s power. “There was a clear lack of public support for these elections. Voter turnout in the capital is estimated at under 25%. Outside Kathmandu, turnout was reportedly half that level in some places. The government detained large numbers of political activists before the elections, restricted media and refused to allow independent outside monitors. Maoist intimidation and killing of candidates during the campaign also marred the vote. There is no political cause that justifies the use of violence,” stated Sean McCormack, spokesperson of the Department of State.

“The only way to effectively deal with the threat posed by the Maoists is to restore democracy in Nepal. We call on the King to release all political detainees and initiate a dialogue with the political parties. His continuing refusal to take these steps is leading his country further down the path of violence and disorder,” said McCormack.

Likewise, the Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna issued a statement questioning the legitimacy of the municipal polls. “Any credible electoral exercise should have the active involvement and participation of all the mainstream parties. Only then would such elections be able to contribute to the restoration of democracy and political stability.” Even Japan joined the bandwagon ‘deploring’ the way the elections were held ‘without a broad support’ of the Nepali people. “Japan regrets that activists of the political parties were arrested in the process,” a statement by Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

In the barrage of international outpouring of criticism, the government, on the other hand, seems unperturbed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed “total objection” to the criticisms. The Ministry stated, “The Government of Nepal finds the statements made by a few countries on the municipal elections as totally objectionable and asks them to refrain from making such insolent comments on matters that fall essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of a sovereign country. Demanding democracy and criticizing the polls aimed at restoring democracy is nothing more than a paradox in itself.”

Parliamentary Elections!

Of late, the government ministers and the EC are talking about holding parliamentary elections within next one year. Stating that the Election Commission (EC) has been able to earn invaluable experience of conducting elections amid conflict situation, the CEC Rajbhandari said that it would hold parliamentary elections within next one year. “We have already decided to conduct parliamentary elections within 2063,” he said.

While the parliamentary elections can, indeed, provide a means of restoring the system of governance by elected representatives, it will also end up in a fiasco similar to the municipal polls if the government remains hot-headed in its efforts to marginalize the legitimate political forces.

As such, the February 8 must have provided lessons for the government to learn at this juncture. Any indication that the government has not learned any lesson would only result in hardening of positions, polarization of politics and intensification of violence – which is in the interest of nobody much less the Nepalese people.

Promoting Water Saving Rice Production In South Asia

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help develop and disseminate water-saving rice technologies in the drought-prone and water-short region of South Asia, through a US$1 million technical assistance (TA) grant, according to a press release by the ADB. Current rice production systems consume a high amount of water. It takes about 3,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of rice. Irrigated non-agriculture areas, which provide 75% of total Asian rice production, consume 50% of all freshwater diversions.

“This profligate usage of water in irrigated rice production is unsustainable, given the increasing demand for freshwater due to growth in rice demand and growing competition from other sectors,” says Tumurdavaa Bayarsaihan, an ADB Senior Agricultural Economist. “With the present rate of water usage, even maintaining productivity in many currently irrigated areas will be difficult unless more water-efficient rice production technologies suitable for irrigated areas are developed.”

In South Asia, it is estimated that by 2025, 12 million hectares of irrigated rice may suffer from severe water shortage, with serious effects on the food security and social stability of the region. The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) estimates that a 10% reduction in water use for rice irrigation would free 150 billion cubic meters, or 25% of the total freshwater used in Asia for nonagricultural purposes.

The TA will support the development of new water-saving rice production technologies based on improved varieties at IRRI, that will be distributed to national agricultural research centers in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. These centers will further refine, evaluate, and then disseminate the developed varieties, validating them at selected target fields with the participation of farmers.

The TA will also help national agricultural and extension systems in four participating countries develop locally adapted water-saving rice technologies, including by sponsoring visits to IRRI, organizing an international workshop, and conducting a series of training courses. Last, the TA will develop a regional network for information exchange to ensure the broader impacts of the project.

The total cost of the TA is estimated at $2.306 million. IRRI will contribute $566,000, while the national research institutes of the four participating countries will shoulder the balance of $740,000 in the form of staff time, land, and research facilities. IRRI is the executing agency for the TA, which will be carried out over about three years.