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UN
electoral process monitors to start second visit
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New
York, 30 July 2007 (UN News)
United
Nations election monitors will this week begin their second visit to Nepal
as part of the world body's efforts to support the staging of Constituent
Assembly polls there later this year.
The
five-member UN Electoral Expert Monitoring Team (EEMT), which reports to
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is responsible for reviewing all technical
aspects of the Constituent Assembly electoral process and monitoring the
conduct of the polls themselves.
The
Assembly elections are scheduled for 22 November in the Himalayan nation,
where a decade-long armed conflict that killed some 13,000 people came
to a formal end when the Government and the Maoists signed a peace accord
late last year.
The
polls were to have been held in mid-June but had to be postponed because
regulations governing the process were not ready. November was the next
earliest available date because of the monsoon season and several major
national holidays.
Last
week, the top UN envoy in Nepal told reporters that while the peace process
seems to be on track, it is vital to create a conducive political and security
climate for the holding of credible Assembly elections.
Ban
Ki-moon's Special Representative for Nepal Ian Martin said that "considerable
challenges� remain before the polls can be successfully staged.
Although
the country's peace process started out focused primarily on ending the
conflict between the Maoists and the State, it has become increasingly
more complicated as traditionally marginalized groups ask for fair representation
in the process, he noted, calling for greater dialogue with the marginalized
groups.
The
EEMT's report on its first visit to Nepal, held last month, was submitted
by Mr. Ban to the Nepalese Government and the nation's Chief Election Commissioner
earlier this month.
Established
by the Security Council, the EEMT's members are appointed directly by the
Secretary-General and the team is not a part of the UN Mission in Nepal
(UNMIN). The mission's Electoral Assistance Office provides separate technical
assistance to Nepal's Election Commission.
Rafael
Lopez-Pintor of Spain is the leader of the EEMT, and its other members
are Ayman Ayoub (Syria), Stefanie Luthy (Switzerland), Antonio Reis (Brazil)
and Bong-Scuk Sohn (Republic of Korea).
top
Source:
UN News 2007
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