 |
Kathmandu Thursday July 13, 2000 Ahsad 29, 2057.
|
Election not fair : CEC
By Binod Bhandari
BIRATNAGAR, July 12 - Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)
Bishnu Pratap Shah said here Wednesday that the Election Commission could not conduct the
election fairly and impartially due to lack of efficiency and discipline in the
government’s administrative machinery and also due to policisation of the
administrative machinery.
Seaking at a one-day interaction programme on "Reforms
on Election System" organised here under the auspices of Nepal Samasamayik Adhyayan
Kendra (Nepal Contemporary Study Centre) he said the Election Commission (EC), political
parties and administrative machinery had equal roles to play in any election. Shah asked,
"How far can the Election Commission alone play a successful role when the political
parties and the administrative machinery escape from their roles and are attracted towards
fulfilling merely their vested interests?"
The Chief Election Commissioner said political parties and
administrative personnel did not obey the conditions laid down by the Election Commission.
At the end of the election the political parties which do not observe the election code of
conduct and the government employees who conduct the elections themselves complain that
the elections were not impartial. Can there be anything more shameful than this?
Only laws will not be capable of ensuring a fair election
system, he said and added that it would depend on the change in the conduct of political
party leaders, workers and government employees. The erring Election Commission may be
dissolved but who will take action against the political parties which fail to observe the
election code of conduct and which fail to reform their political conduct? Shah asked.
If a few players of a football match play foul, the referee
may take action against them, but if all the 22 players play foul at the same time who
should be penalised? This is the condition which the Election Commission is facing, the
Chief Election Commissioner said.
Referring to the fact that even the election period
government does not observe the election code of conduct Shah said the government starts
carrying out construction and development works and transferring employees after the
election code of conduct is published by the EC. The government itself is not disciplined
and cannot maintain discipline among its employees. In fact the whole government machinery
starts cheating the Election Commission.
He said the electoral malpractice start right from the time
of preparing the electoral rolls and the EC has been unable to set it right due to lack of
efficient and disciplined employees and conscious voters and political parties.
At the programme chaired by Prof Gopal Prasad Sharma Chief
Election Commissioner Shah and political scientist Ram Kumar Dahal had presented papers on
efforts aimed at ensuring free and fair polls and possibility of election system reforms
in Nepal respectively. President of the centre Prof Lok Raj Baral highlighted the
objectives of the interaction programme attended by police and administration chiefs of
the district, judges, legal practitioners, representatives of political parties, office
chiefs, journalists and other distinguished people.
Other Stories
|
