Almost all newspapers published in Kathmandu on Sunday have given priority to reports related to security concerns among voters and candidates ahead of the elections on Thursday. Here’s a summary of stories that made it to the front pages on Sunday:
Important
Govt changes security strategy
Naya Patrika in its front page report says that the government has changed its security strategy ahead of the second round of elections on Thursday. The paper quotes a Home Ministry official as saying that security personnel have been directed to act more aggressive, step up search operations and increase cooperation between different agencies. The official tells the paper that the new strategy has been adopted after reviewing what happened during the first phase of elections.
The paper says that 99 per cent of the people who have been detained in the last couple of days for disruption election proceedings were cadres of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Nepal Communist Party. Kantipur says that officials on the ground have difficulties working on the ground as neither the political parties nor the government has a clear stance on how to look at Chand’s outfit. The paper says that the Ministry of Home Affairs has been told not to look at the IED explosion cases as being related to a single group, but to treat each incident separately. The political leadership does not know whether to treat the Chand group as a political party or a rebel outfit, the paper says.
Ignored
Despite poll code breach, EC yet to take serious action
Reports are coming in from different parts of the country on how political parties and candidates are flouting the election code of conduct by distributing money and organising feasts to woo voters. The Kathmandu Post asks, “EC’s poll code limited to paper only?” It says that the commission has not taken any action against anyone; all it has done is issue warnings. It says that observers have concluded that the poll authority on almost all occasions has turned a blind eye to code violations.
Republica, in its anchor for the day, says that alcohol, cash and chicken are being used to woo voters in Sunsari. The report says that it is the poor and the underprivileged that the political parties have been exploiting.
Rain likely to affect polling on Thursday
The Himalayan Times reports that rainfall is likely during the poll day on Thursday. The paper quotes meteorologists to say that a westerly wind system, which is currently in Jammu, is likely to enter Nepal tomorrow, and this has the potential to bring rainfall to different parts of the country on Thursday.
Don’t spend money unnecessarily, Auditor General tells government
The Office of Auditor General has told government officials not to spend tax payers’ money on unnecessary things in the name of elections. Auditor General Tank Mani Sharma tells Karobar that his office has already written to the Election Commission and the government to not take this as an opportunity to spend without accountability. He says that officials who are taking the election as an excuse to spend money should be aware that they will be brought to book.
Interesting
After 35 years, Nepal says adieu to elephant polo
Elephant Polo events, which were one of the main crowd pullers in Nepal’s Chitwan district, will not take place from now on, The Kathmandu Post reports. The paper says tha elephant polo was first started in 1982. Organisers of the event say that they have become aware of the harm events likes these do to the elephants and want to treat the animals in a more humane way. Tiger Tops, one of the most famous resorts in Chitwan, has also stopped the famous elephant safaris. It says that it will now focus on ‘elephant camps’ in which tourists can observe the animals in their natural habitat.
