With the approaching deadline for the parliamentary and federal elections scheduled in two phases on November 26 and December 7, the incidents related attacks and arson against of the candidates and their supporters have also been increasing tremendously posing the serious challenge to mention security of the candidates and voters during the election. Even though no human casualties were reported in the recent incidents, increase in the number of such attacks has left voters as well candidates terrified. It seems that the scheduled elections would face severe security challenges particularly from the Netra Bikram Chanda led CPN-Maoist, the splinter faction of the recent CPN Maoist Center, which is now aligned in the leftist alliance formed under the leadership of main opposition CPN UML .
The Chanda led Maoist, which has taken responsibilities of the recent attacks against the candidates, seems to have emerged as the incarnation of then Maoists that had dominated Nepal’s politics for more than 20 years after waging a decade-long insurgency on the name of the people’s movement that claimed more than 16,000 lives. Whatever the motives are there behind the recent attacks against the candidates, the government as well as the entire stake holders should take immediate attention towards the recent incidents keeping in the mind that the incidents would jeopardize not only the scheduled elections but also the recent changes made from the popular movement.
Since the scheduled elections are seen as the final step in Nepal’s post-war transition to a federal democracy, we had a fear that the reactionary forces that always stood against of the recent changes would remain hell-bent to foil the scheduled elections. But no reactionary forces became able to secure the position to disturb the scheduled elections except posing the security challenges o the Chanda led Maoist. The recently emerged security challenges would be dealt through the security measures to make success the approaching elections; however, it is not meant that using forces would be a means for the permanent solution of the recent security challenges.
The government and the political parties should initiate efforts immediately to take into confidence the Chanda led Maoist even though there is no possibility to grant space to the party in the scheduled elections. Being the instigator of launching insurgency in the pretext of people’s movement, the recently renamed CPN Maoist Center should take extra responsibility to take confidence to the Chanda led Maoist and to curb the recent incidents of bullet and bomb attacks against the candidates.
Being the opposition, the CPN UML led leftist alliance would have discharged its responsibilities by trading allegations to the government for failing to provide adequate securities to the candidates and their supporters. The leftist alliance has alleged the government and the Nepali Congress, the head of the incumbent coalition government, even suspecting that the Chanda led Maoist would have aligned with the government with intent to jeopardize the scheduled elections. As candidates from the Nepali Congress are also targeted in the recent attacks, the leftist alliance should have introverted from their own lexis. We have nothing to say but an urge to the leftist alliance not to add ghee in the flame on the name of gaining popularity by trading blames to the government.
The emergent antagonism generated from the Rolpa district between the CPN Maoist Center and the Chanda led Maoist has not only created dilemma to the people of the district over whether to vote or not to vote amid the tense situation but also sparked the flames of insecurities across the country. Not only the government and its allies but also the opposition should take equal responsibilities to make success the scheduled elections.
