Electoral Reforms : Begin From EC

Yuba Nath Lamsal

Unless otherwise decided, we have to assume that the election to a constituent assembly would be held by November this year. The eight parties have already reached a consensus to hold the constituent assembly election by November 2007 and they have left it to the government to announce the convenient dates for the polls after making due preparation and consultation with the Election Commission and other stakeholders.

Decision

As the saying goes 'once bitten twice shy', people are skeptical about the elections even in November. It is because the parties have once betrayed the people and breached their promises. The eight parties had earlier decided to hold the election by mid-June this year, which was also written clearly in the interim constitution. In fact, early constituent election was the main basis for unity between the seven-party alliance and the Maoists. However, they failed to meet that deadline and hold the election in June. There was enough time to hold the election, if the parties and the government had been serious and accordingly done the homework for the polls. The mandate of the Jana Andolan II was also to institutionalize the peace and democratic process and restructure the state through the constituent assembly election. But the government and the eight parties miserably failed in their objective.Since the election could not be held in mid-June, there is sufficient room to doubt over the sincerity of the eight parties.. Unless the dates for the election were formally announced, people may not believe that election would be held in time. The early announcement of the election dates are now necessary to allay the doubt and fear of the people about the ongoing political and peace process.

Assuming that constituent assembly election would be held in November this year, the government and the Election Commission (EC) have to complete the necessary home work for the polls. If the elections are delayed once again, political parties would lose their credibility among the people and also in the international arena. Thus, election must be held in the rescheduled time.Free and fair election is a soul of democracy. Holding election for the shake of election alone would not serve the purpose. Election should genuinely reflect the people's sentiment and voice. Election should be free, fair and fearless. For this, perfect law and order and security arrangement should be maintained so that people can cast their ballot and give their verdict without fear.Secondly, voters should be adequately educated about the constituent assembly and its election pattern. It has so far been agreed for the mixed system of election?half on the basis of majoritarian system and half on the basis of proportional representation. Even parties and leaders are not clear about the proportional representation system, let alone the general people. The voters' turn out would depend on security arrangement and good voter education. If the people are assured of the security and properly educated about the importance of constituent assembly election and voting system, the voters' turn out would be definitely high. Also there is a question of quality of voting. It has to be ensured that voters give their verdict perfectly without any mistake.

Election not only involves the people in the political and democratic process but also ensures that only genuine people become the representatives of the people. But the past experiences have shown that the corrupt, dacoits, goons and goondas were also elected by vote rigging and influencing the voters and officials by their money and muscle power. The cases of vote rigging, booth capturing and intimidating the voters had often been reported in several places during the last two general elections and two local elections. In several cases, genuine representatives of the people were defeated and others declared elected. All political parties are part of this unfair game. But the party in power during the election was ahead in the race of electoral malpractice. It is the reason why political party or parties are so keen to control the Home Ministry during the election. The Election Commission did not appear to have been more proactive to control the electoral malpractice. There are few instances of cancellation of election results even if complaints were registered with due evidence of such irregularities. In some cases of malpractice, election officials themselves had been found involved. Moreover, the procedure of the appointment of chief election commissioners and election commissioners has been on partisan lines. In the past, the party in power usually appointed the commissioners on the basis of their loyalty to the ruling party or parties rather than their competence and qualification. Now system of parliamentary hearing before the formal appointment of the commissioners has changed the situation. But it is still not adequate. Even the present team in the Election Commission was chosen on the basis of the share of the political parties in the government. This has always raised the question of impartiality and neutrality of the Election Commission.

Although the Election Commission is an independent body, it has always remained under the shadow of the ruling party or government. If the electoral process has to be made fair and impartial, the Election Commission needs to be made fully independent both in principle and practice. To ensure independence of the Election Commission, the laws and procedures for the appointment of the election commissioners should be changed. It would be better if laws are changed to ensure that the chief election commissioners and other commissioners are appointed directly by the parliament.Thus, the Election Commission must be proactive to ensure that election is held in a genuinely free and fair manner. There are many aspects associated with the process for ensuring free, fair and fearless election. It needs adequate budget, perfect security and competent staff. The security system has always been the prime concern of the Election Commission during the election. Even in the present context, the Election Commission is not fully assured of the security arrangement. During the election, a high-level security committee headed by one of the commissioners in the Election Commission and comprising senior security officers of all security organs of the government should be formed so that it would oversee all the security arrangement. It would create better coordination for security during the election period.

Coordination

If people do not feel fully secured, they may not actively participate in the electoral process. This would cause low voters' turn out which may raise question of legitimacy. Since the constituent assembly election is a historic process to write a new constitution, there must be maximum participation of the people in the electoral process. Besides law and order, the education and awareness also play crucial role in ensuring and increasing the participation of the people in the entire electoral process. We must realize the fact that only informed and educated voter can give his/her quality verdict. Thus, the massive voters' education is a must to ensure more voters' turn out and quality of voting. It can be done in perfect coordination among the Election Commission, political parties and the civil society.

Source: The Rising Nepal, June 12, 2007