Only two international observers have shown their interest to monitor the snap polls slated for March 5. The Carter Centre and Japanese Embassy in Nepal have applied to observe the polls, according to the commission officials. The Carter Centre, which had long been monitoring Nepal’s election, did not show interest in the previous elections. It has returned this time.

“We have received requests from two international observers but the commission itself will invite our diplomatic missions to observe the elections,” said Narayan Prasad Bhattrai, spokesperson at the commission. The number of domestic observer organisations is 20.

The Election Commission in October last week had invited national and international election observers to monitor the parliamentary elections. In separate public notices, the constitutional election management body had set a November 12 deadline for the domestic and foreign observers to apply for overseeing the polls, which are four months away.

Election observation is common globally and helps ensure free and fair elections. The number of organisations willing to monitor Nepal’s elections has been declining gradually.

Only four international observers monitored the November 2022 general elections—the Asian Network for Free Elections, SAARC Human Rights Foundation, Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, and Initiative for Dialogue and Democracy, Denmark. The organisation from the Russian Federation was in Nepal for the first time to check the fairness and neutrality of the polls. The number has halved this time.

Same is the case with the domestic observers. As many as 43 national organisations monitored the federal and provincial elections. They had mobilised close to 10,000 observers across the country, mainly on voting day. While international observers can focus on the entire country, domestic observers can be specific to one or more than one district if they are not willing to observe in the whole country.