Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2024-05-23T18:06:48.343Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 16

from The Story: The Rocky Road to Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2014

Bhojraj Pokharel
Affiliation:
Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal
Shrishti Rana
Affiliation:
Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal
Get access

Summary

Interestingly, the UN's presence was actually the most important factor for pushing forward the elections in June 2007. The Chief realised this truth during a meeting with Indian diplomats, when the value of the UN was questioned. “What's the use of these expensive UN staff? They just take huge salaries in the name of conflict. Is there any conflict in Kathmandu where they work? We are capable of giving you any support you want. It's best to send white elephants back as soon as possible,” a diplomat said to the Chief.

A few days earlier, the Indian Ambassador, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee had said Nepal could shorten the election process in order to conduct the June elections. This comment came because India was feeling increasingly uncomfortable about the UN presence in Nepal, and wanted to push hard for a June election, so the UN would leave the country without any delay. The Chief later explained:

India is a powerful domestic factor in countries of South Asia, particularly in so-called India-locked Nepal. So, if India's interest was in holding an election in June then there was a great possibility that the election would happen at that time. Most importantly, major domestic forces also wanted the election to be held in June. I wanted to complete all technical preparations so the Commission would not be blamed for any delay.

Type
Chapter
Information
Nepal Votes for Peace , pp. 101 - 107
Publisher: Foundation Books
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Chapter 16
  • Bhojraj Pokharel, Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal, Shrishti Rana, Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal
  • Book: Nepal Votes for Peace
  • Online publication: 05 April 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993599.019
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Chapter 16
  • Bhojraj Pokharel, Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal, Shrishti Rana, Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal
  • Book: Nepal Votes for Peace
  • Online publication: 05 April 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993599.019
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Chapter 16
  • Bhojraj Pokharel, Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal, Shrishti Rana, Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal
  • Book: Nepal Votes for Peace
  • Online publication: 05 April 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993599.019
Available formats
×