CA poll security plan within this week: EC

KATHMANDU, Sept 2: The government will come up with integrated security plan within this week for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) election scheduled for November 19.



“The security plan on CA election will be finalized before Friday,” Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety told Republica.He said that they will sit with the government to discuss the issue after the completion of the Master Training of Trainers (MToT) to zonal and district police chiefs.[break]



Asked about the possibility of using temporary security personnel at polling booths, he said that it will be too early to comment on the issue as the government has yet to present the security plan to the commission.



However, Uprety maintained that the Election Commission (EC) and political parties among other stakeholders have opposed the idea of hiring temporary security personnel for security at polling booths saying that the arrangement had not been effective during the past elections.



“It [mobilizing temporary security personnel] is not effective technically as well as from administrative point of view,” added the chief election commissioner.



He said the EC is hopeful that the government will come up with a security plan that is acceptable to all stakeholders.



EC officials including election observers say that past experience and suggestions from both national and international election observers show that temporary security personnel are undesirable for holding elections in free and fair manner.



The stakeholders, during interactions across 43 districts, had stated that it will be better to hire former security personnel from Nepal Police, APF, Nepal Army (NA), the British Gurkha and the Indian Army.



Nepal Police has been stating that hiring temporary security personnel is a must as it does not have sufficient manpower for deployment during the CA elections.



EC to train zonal and district police chiefs from today



The EC will conduct Master Training of Trainers (MToT) to zonal and district police chiefs from Monday in Gokarna, Kathmandu.

According to the chief election commissioner, the two-day meeting will dwell on the role of security agencies during the elections and procedures of the new CA elections.



Around 70 senior police officers including Superintendents of Police (SPs), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSPs) and Senior Superintendent of Police (DSPs) from across the country will participate in the training, Uprety informed.

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