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Statement
of Ian Martin, Special Representative of the
United
Nations Secretary-General
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Ian
Martin on the present situation
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Kathmandu,
12 March 2008 (UNMIN)
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Questions
and Answers
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Transcript
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Mathew
Rosenberg, Associated Press:
You
make some references here to acts of violence being reported in various
parts of the country, and infringements of the Code of Conduct. Could you
elaborate as to what you're talking about and how much of a threat these
pose to the vote? |
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Ian
Martin:
There
are continuing reports of some acts of violence in the central and eastern
Terai, although at a significantly reduced level since the agreement that
was reached with the alliance of Madhesi organisations. And there are also
reports of at least forcible obstruction of the campaigns of other parties,
and in some cases threats to candidates. I am not at this moment going
to cite individual incidents because that I only wish to do not on the
basis just of media reports but after the United Nations has had its own
opportunity to assess them on the ground. But that is a process we will
be doing on an ongoing basis as the election campaign continues. But I
think the kind of things that I am referring to are acts that people are
well aware of. |
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Manesh
Shrestha, CNN:
You
mentioned about the electoral advisers, how many are there? |
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Ian
Martin:
The
electoral advisers are being deployed to all 75 districts. There are also
teams in the regions working with the regional officers of the Election
Commission, and of course a team working with the Election Commission centrally
here in Kathmandu. And with the international personnel, there are of course
national staff working as language assistants and in other capacities.
I will have to ask Kieran to provide you with the figure after the press
conference, as I don't have the latest figures in my mind, but we are talking
of over a hundred international personnel. |
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Manesh
Shrestha, CNN:
The
election advisers themselves will not be involved in election monitoring,
will they? This is a different group of people. |
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Ian
Martin:
You
are correct that they are advisers; they are not observers or monitors.
The direct UN monitoring is being carried out by the Electoral Expert Monitoring
Team, whose current presence I referred to. And we are now seeing the gradual
increase in the arrival of international observer delegations, who are
being coordinated by the Election Commission with the support of the UN
in the form of UNDP. |
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Shirish
Pradhan, Press Trust of India:
There
are reports of possible threats by two groups, the extreme rightist and
the extreme leftist. The Maoists and their leaders, during their election
campaign said that if they do not come into power peacefully there will
be bloodshed. And then there is RPP-Nepal, who says that monarchy should
be abolished by referendum, not by the Constituent Assembly. In this case
do you see any violence post-poll. and how is the United Nations is prepared
to deal with that? |
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Ian
Martin:
It
is an extremely important part of any democratic process that those participating
in it indicate that they will respect the result even if they are disappointed
by it. I have stressed to party leaders the importance of their making
that clear and not implying that they will refuse to accept the result
if it is not the one that they hoped for. That is a key part of the democratic
process, and I hope that as the parties go forward to election day, the
leaders and indeed the individual candidates in their particular constituencies
will make that fact clear. I have also stressed that the international
community certainly will have no sympathy whatever for any acts of violence,
whoever may carry them out. And I very much hope that groups that have
in the recent past been carrying out acts of violence will now desist from
them and even if they still have their criticisms of the electoral process,
will allow the electoral process to go forward on the basis that the overwhelming
majority of the people of Nepal clearly now want this election to happen. |
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Sam
Taylor, AFP:
Mr
Martin, I am sure you are aware, if you are briefed, that elections here
have a history of, a slightly troubled history you could say, involving
booth capturing and violence and this kind of thing. How much of that is
going to be tolerated this time, in terms of this election, given that
there are already reports circulating about how political parties -
and not just Maoists - are involved in getting together gangs of young
people, young men specifically, to capture booths. How much of that is
going be tolerated? How much of that will have to happen to prevent the
election from being free and fair in your estimation? |
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Ian
Martin:
I
don't think one can quantify: in principle, obviously, absolutely no booth
capturing should be tolerated. It will be up to the Election Commission
to decide whether what may be reported in violations of the Electoral Code
of Conduct justify the re-running of contests. That is their decision.
What I can say very clearly is that international observers will speak
out against any forms of malpractice which they witness or of which they
are aware. And I would urge, as the Chief Election Commissioner did yesterday,
I would urge the political parties to reach agreements on cooperation at
the local level so that they are not competing in the numbers of people
near polling booths that might intimidate electors but, on the contrary,
are cooperating to ensure together that all parties respect the right of
electors to vote freely. |
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Bigyan
Sharma, Nepal FM
How
many observers of United Nations and other UN agencies are being mobilised?
Do you have any pre-estimation? |
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Ian
Martin:
The
formal tally of election observers is being maintained by the Election
Commission, as they receive applications and issue accreditation to observer
delegations. I think we are expecting that there are likely to be of the
order of 500 international observers, but the final figure won't be known
yet. That does not include, as an earlier question indicated, a lot of
our own personnel, because UNMIN is not fielding an observer presence:
we are fielding an electoral advisory presence as well as our civil affairs
officers, and OHCHR is fielding its human rights officers. They are also,
however, very relevant to reporting what is going on on the ground, and
there are discussions going on as to how the total quantity of personnel
observing the election can be as effective as possible. And perhaps it
is important to say that it is not realistic to expect that international
observers can be everywhere, but there are again going to be a very much
larger number of national observers. And I am sure that the international
observer delegations and national observers can work together in a way
that ensures the maximum coverage in observing the electoral process around
the country. |
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Question:
Mr
Martin, how are you taking the security situation in the Terai this time? |
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Ian
Martin:
In
some ways it is still a little early following the positive development
in the security situation after the agreement with the Madhesi alliance
to be certain how it will evolve towards election day. There are still
violent incidents occurring and, as I made clear, I very much hope, I call
for those to cease. But we have to, and the authorities have to, monitor
closely how the security situation evolves and take the necessary measures
to address it. But again I have stressed that that is not only a question
of policing, it is also a question of cooperation among all democratic
political forces that want to see this election happen to try to create
the best possible climate in the Terai, as elsewhere. |
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Mathew
Rosenberger, Associated Press:
In
your estimation, given the complexity of the process, the PR and the direct
election rules, given the remoteness of many parts in the country, how
long after the election do you expect the CA to be seated? Are we talking
three to four weeks, six to eight weeks, three months? From where you're
standing, how does it look? |
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Ian
Martin:
Well,
that is really more a question for the Election Commission than for us,
since they will be conducting the count. It is inevitable, however, that
it will be several weeks because one is not only talking about the gathering
in of ballot boxes and the counting of votes. There is also, in this electoral
process, the need for parties then to make selections from their closed
lists according to the quotas that govern them, and for the Election Commission
to confirm that the parties have complied with the legislation in that
selection of candidates. So if you are really asking a question all the
way through to the seating of a Constituent Assembly, then that is part
of the processes as well. Obviously, that would be quite a protracted process
in itself, even if no elections are having to be re-run. If there is a
requirement for any re-polling to take place then obviously that would
affect the proportional part of the election as a whole and add further
to the time. But let us hope that the election is completed satisfactorily
in all constituencies on the 10th of April. But even then, as I have indicated,
we are talking about several weeks before the full result of every elected
member in the Constituent Assembly can be known. |
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Mathew
Rosenberger, Associated Press:
Are
you at all concerned - a quick follow up - about a potential vacuum? Like,
who is going to be in charge of Nepal now? There still will be an interim
government but they're clearly on their way out. Parties are going to be
squabbling over who gets what. Are you at all concerned for what happens
the day after the vote, the week after the vote, two weeks after the vote,
while parties work it out? |
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Ian
Martin:
Well,
in principle, at least the three major parties in the current government
- the Nepali Congress, the UML and the Maoists - are in agreement that
they will continue to be in coalition in government after the election.
Of course, exactly how that coalition is composed, what other groups, what
other parties may be part of it, depending on the election results, the
respective strength of different components of the government, will undoubtedly
be subject to a good deal of discussion. But I think that everybody understands
that this is not a winner-take-all election; this is an election, firstly,
for an inclusive Constituent Assembly even before it is an election for
a government, and secondly, it is an election to continue a broad-based
government with the participation of different political forces. |
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Sumeet
Sharma, Nepal One Television
Mr
Martin what might be the one last hurdle, in your perception, that might
still stop the election? Could you say anything? |
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Ian
Martin:
I
am not going to predict anything stopping the election. As I said, I believe
this election is on track. What is important is that acts of violence are
avoided and contained. But I don't believe that even the carrying out of
acts of violence can or should derail this electoral process. |
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Ram
Humagain, Gorkhapatra:
Mr
Martin, you already mentioned that this election is not a general election
or like other parliamentary elections. You have been advising the parties
to take this election a different way. But we can see that recently they
published their manifesto, of the political parties, and with their political
campaigns so they are totally going for a parliamentary election. We can
predict that it will create post-poll conflict in this country. How do
you observe all this? |
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Ian
Martin:
Of
course it is inevitable that political parties, once an election is underway,
see themselves in the contest for different shares of political power after
that election. But I have also stressed the fact that they are committed
to remaining in alliance, and I very much hope that once the dust settles
on the election itself that the leaders of the different parties recognise
the continuing need to cooperate, to provide Nepal with an inclusive further
interim government during the constitutionmaking process. All we can do
is urge that that is the spirit in which they meet after the election,
and even if during the election they will inevitably have competed in a
more partisan manner. |
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Ram
Humagain, Gorkhapatra:
Do
you have any official information about the Ban Ki-moon visit, and probably
it will be before the poll? |
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Ian
Martin:
No,
indeed I myself have suggested to the Secretary-General that a visit to
Nepal at some stage would be welcome. I am glad to see that that was discussed
with the Foreign Minister, but there is no date for a visit. |
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Liam
Cochrane, Radio Australia
Mr
Martin, I know it is early in the campaigning process but there have been
reports in the last couple of weeks of YCL obstructing other parties from
campaigning. Could you tell us when you last met senior Maoist leadership
and what message you conveyed to him? |
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Ian
Martin:
I
would have to check the exact date. You will understand that the helicopter
crash has somewhat slowed-up some of my programme of meetings, so it is
before that that I have last met the Maoist leadership. But in my last
meeting with Chairman Prachanda, we had a very frank discussion about the
need to ensure that the cadres of the CPN(M), including the YCL, respect
the political rights of others, and I shall go on delivering that message
privately as well as publicly. |
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Liam
Cochrane, Radio Australia
Just
to follow on, it seems that after these incidents when the Maoist leaders
is pressed to explain, they simply deny that they know anything about these
incidents or the fact that they took place at all. Are you concerned that
this level of "plausible deniability", if you like, is going to continue
to be a problem throughout the election campaign? |
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Ian
Martin:
Well
I think the extent of observation of this election will not make denial
plausible, because I believe there will be sufficient observation for party
leaderships to have to recognise what a range of observers report from
the ground. So, I wouldn't want to use the term "plausible deniability"
for much longer. |
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Source:
UNMIN , March 2008
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