National
EC bars two EU observers from poll monitoring
The Election Commission (EC) has barred two international election observers from monitoring the upcoming elections.The Election Commission (EC) has barred two international election observers from monitoring the upcoming elections.
The decision follows a complaint from chief election officer of Kanchanpur on Tuesday that the two European Union (EU) representatives violated the code of conduct enforced by the EC.
The poll body said the EU representatives in question violated their mandate of election observers.
EC Spokesperson Navaraj Dhakal said on Friday that the EC decided to bar the two EU observers from monitoring the elections as they were found to have entered the premises of Kanchanpur District Court and asked questions that in no way should have been asked as poll observers. “A formal process to revoke their licence to observe the elections has been moved forward through the diplomatic channel,” said Dhakal.
The EU mission in Kathmandu refused to respond to the Post’s query on the matter. “At this stage, the EU poll observation mission is not making any comment,” said Thomas Boserup, deputy chief observer of the EU.
The EU, which set up its election observation mission on November 7, is mobilising over 100 observers, the largest among the international observers, for the upcoming federal parliament and provincial elections scheduled for Sunday and December 7.
Other international observers are the Carter Center, Asian Network for Free Elections and Ankawa International.
Also on Friday, Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav during a meeting with the delegates of the European Parliament told them that international observers should follow Nepal’s laws and the election code of conduct.
The European Parliament delegation is led by Neena Gill.
Meanwhile, CEC Yadav also met Željana Zovko, chief observer from the EU on Friday. According to an EC press statement, discussions were held on the Kanchanpur incident and ways to avoid repetition of such incidents in future.
Kanchanpur Chief Election Officer Rajendra Kumar Acharya, who is also a judge at the district court, on Tuesday had recommended that two EU observers be barred from monitoring the elections, as they had violated the poll code of conduct.