Fear of violence remains a serious threat to free and fair constituent assembly (CA) elections in Nepal scheduled for November 19, political parties and security experts said yesterday. More cases of election-related violence have been reported from different parts of the country, creating a sense of terror and uncertainty among voters. There are various kinds of election-related clashes now taking place in the Himalayan country, Xinhua said in a news analysis. First, there is an increase in clashes between the political parties that have already launched their respective election campaigns and those who are against the election, principally the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), a breakaway faction of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M). The CPN-M, which opposes the upcoming elections, has launched an anti-election campaign and is engaged in activities aimed at obstructing the election. In some places, the party’s activists have even attacked cadres of other parties. The party has also warned people not to vote in the November 19 elections, threatening to harm them if they go to vote.
The second kind of violence is among the parties who have opted to join in the elections. The cadres of big parties such as the UCPN-M, Nepali Congress, and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) are attacking each other and obstructing each other’s election campaign.
Clashes among the participating parties have escalated in the run-up to the November 19 elections, a high-level police
official said.
The third kind of violence, according to security agencies, is the possible attacks on election candidates by armed outfits in the country’s southern belt, the Terai, which borders India.
Full Article: Fear of violence grips Nepal ahead of Nov 19 elections.
