Statement of Ian Martin, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General

UNMIN and the electoral process Questions and Answers Related information

Ian Martin on the present situation

Kathmandu, 12 March 2008 (UNMIN)

Questions and Answers

	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?
	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.
	Manesh Shrestha, CNN: You mentioned about the electoral advisers, how many are there?
	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.
	Manesh Shrestha, CNN: The election advisers themselves will not be involved in election monitoring, will they? This is a different group of people.
	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.
	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?
	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.

	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?
	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.
	Bigyan Sharma, Nepal FM How many observers of United Nations and other UN agencies are being mobilised? Do you have any pre-estimation?
	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.
	Question: Mr Martin, how are you taking the security situation in the Terai this time?
	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.
	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?
	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.

	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?
	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.
	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?
	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.
	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?
	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.
	Ram Humagain, Gorkhapatra: Do you have any official information about the Ban Ki-moon visit, and probably it will be before the poll?
	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.

	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?
	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.
	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?
	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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