The first phase of voting under provincial and federal parliamentary elections has been scheduled for Sunday. The Election Commission is imposing a ban on publicity activities for the polls from tonight. Therefore, most of newspapers published from Kathmandu on Thursday have prioritised the parties’ last-hour publicity campaigns and the Commission’s preparations to impose the bar in silence period. Other issues related to the polls have also been prioritised.
Important
EU observers accused of going beyond jurisdiction, EC urged to bar
A team of election observers deployed from the European Union has been accused of carrying out activities against the election code of conduct in Kanchanpur district of far-western Nepal. Consequently, poll officials in the district have recommended the Election Commission to bar them from observation; report Kantipur, The Kathmandu Post and The Himalayan Times in the front page today.
The observers on Sunday went to the District Court and enquired about human resources available in the court, which was beyond their jurisdiction, according to the district’s Chief Returning Officer Rajendra Kumar Acharya as quoted in The Himalayan Times. Kantipur adds quoting Acharya that the observers had also enquired about political situations of the district with court officials and it was objectionable.
“It is up to the EC to take a decision. If the EC wants, it can ban EU observers from monitoring polls across the country,” Acharya told The Himalayan Times.
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav has hardened his position on international observers following the “questionable activities”, according to The Kathmandu Post lead story. He says there is no need for foreign missions and monitors to certify elections of Nepal.
Silence period to begin tonight
Gorkhapatra says the silence period for Sunday voting will begin from the midnight of Thursday and parties and their candidates are barred from carrying out any activity to solicit votes till the conclusion of voting at 5 pm Sunday.
Laws have it that parties, their candidates, party officials, independent candidates, members of the civil society, general voters and media shall not carry out any publicity activity during the silence period.
According to Rajdhani lead story, calling for votes via social media and SMSes and use of election symbols and party flags and logos in clothes and bags are also prohibited in the period.
Ignorant of polls, voters go to India for employment
Naya Patrika and Kantipur today have published reports along with a photograph that hundreds of youth from mid-western and far-western parts of the country are heading to India every day through Nepalgunj border though provincial and parliamentary elections are too close and they should have stayed here to vote.
According to Kantipur, around 500 youth are leaving the country every day from various districts of provinces 5 and 6.
Naya Patrika says around 40 per cent youth of Sinja region of Jumla district, which is holding elections on Sunday, are out of the district.
Ignored
Congress to strengthen alliance
Alerted by aggressive election campaign of the leftist alliance, the Nepali Congress is preparing to expand its alliance to Madhesh-centric parties, reports Annapurna Post in its lead story for the day.
The report says the party is likely to partner with two major powerhouses of Terai—Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal and Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal—for the elections in Province 2. The two parties are already in an alliance and their bargaining with the Congress for the formation of a democratic alliance had failed earlier.
The report, however, maintains that discussions held so far have not drawn any conclusion.
Nepali, Indian docs plagiarise Nigerian paper
Republica says three Nepali medical doctors plagiarised a research paper from Nigeria and presented it as a research based on a study of diabetes mellitus patients in western Nepal. The doctors, however, regret now for their misdeed and promise not to repeat it.
MK Shrewastwa, C Thanpari, NK Yadav, RK Mittal and V Rohil have been accused of the intellectual crime. Their article published in Bali Medical Journal in 2013 was reportedly plagiarised from an article published in Annals of African Medicine in 2011.
CIED to summon Deuba for his statements on emergency-period disappearance
The Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons is planning to summon Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to record his statement regarding accusations of enforced disappearance against him, reports The Kathmandu Post.
The transitional justice mechanism has received complaints that Deuba was also responsible in some cases of disappearance during a state of emergency imposed by him as the prime minister.
The Commission’s spokesperson Bishnu Pathak has informed that paper that Deuba will be summoned after the elections.
Interesting
Court fails to locate Gopal Bahadur Khadka’s address
Republica publisher Nepal Republic Media Pvt Ltd had filed a defamation case against then chief of Nepal Oil Corporation, Gopal Bahadur Khadka, around one and half months ago. The Kathmandu District Court, however, it yet to serve the notice on him thanks to its failure to locate his address, reports the paper today.
“We tried to contact him on his cell phone, but it was switched off,” a court official has told the paper.
