EU’s Report On Polls ‘Humiliates’ Nepal : Oli

Kathmandu: Nepal today appealed to the European Union (EU) to "correct" its report on the recently-concluded general and local elections in the country, saying it undermined the country and its people.

The European Union's Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) in a report released on Wednesday raised questions over the elections' transparency, fairness and electoral process.

The prime minister said the report made public by the EU in the name of election observation has hurt the sentiments of Nepali people and is against spirit, norms and provisions of the Constitution.

"I and the Nepali people have felt humiliated by the EU's report. I humbly request the EU to correct it immediately,” he said at a programme organised by National Election Observation Committee (NEOC) in Kathmandu to release the committee's report on election observation.

"Publicising religion in the name of observation and extracting revenge for the same in the report was not right," the prime minister said, asking people "not to harbour any illusion over the fact that Nepal is a sovereign country working for social justice and equality." He also praised the role played by the Election Commission for successfully holding all three tiers of elections for the implementation of constitution and federalism in the country.

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Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earlier said that some of the recommendations and comments in the report have undermined the successful holding of the "smooth, peaceful and impartial elections." The European Union Election Observation Mission for Nepal's House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections submitted its final report on March 20 with 29 proposals for electoral process reform.

The report said that the EC's activities lacked transparency.

The EU Mission said the EC did not create a mechanism for regular consultations with political parties, civil society and observers at the central level.

"There was no mechanism for regular consultations with election stakeholders and the ECN failed to publish critical information on polling centre turnout and invalid votes. There were also procedural weaknesses, particularly in relation to the reconciliation of ballots,” the report stated.

The EU election mission also asked Nepal to consider removing Khas-Aryas from the inclusion quota under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system as the community is already well-represented.

It said representation of a well-represented group contravenes international standards of equality, as affirmative action measures are foreseen only as a means to promote equality. PTI