Kathmandu, July 25: The Election Commission of
Nepal (ECN) Monday made public 'a nine point Kathmandu Outcome 2016' developed
by the two-day regional workshop on 'Electoral Dispute Resolution (EDR) and
Electoral Justice'.
According to the ECN, the conference of the
election management bodies (EMBs) of eight members of Forum of Election
Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) along with South Korea concluded that
the EDR mechanism should be prioritised in all the EMBs for ensuring the rights
of people to elect and be elected.
It further said that dispute must be resolved
promptly in a fair and transparent manner contribution to electoral integrity.
The conference has recognized that the
electoral disputes were likely in all three phases of election – pre, during
and post, and emphasized on permanent and dedicated mechanism and Common
Standard Operational Procedures to address such issues in legitimate and timely
manner.
Saying effective and efficient EDR instruments
and mechanism were essential to ensure free and fair elections particularly in
emerging democracies, the Kathmandu Outcome read that the electoral dispute
settlement mechanism should be effective to contribute to enhance the
credibility and general acceptance of elections at all levels.
"We must also give due consideration to
restorative justice for the victim while the disputes are addressed as promptly
as possible. Likewise, laws and mechanisms on dispute resolution should be
simple and concise for electoral stakeholders to understand and practice
efficiently," read the declaration.
The conference emphasized on the adoption of
user-friendly Information and Communication Technology to promote transparency
and urged for a robust collaboration, sharing and partnership between and among
the EMBs in the region.
Organized by the ECN with the aim of sharing
knowledge, experience, best practices regarding EDR and electoral justice
system in course of managing elections, the workshop was concluded on Friday.
Inaugurating the workshop chief justice
Shushila Karki had stressed on the need of effective electoral justice
mechanism for free and fair elections.
Former chief election commissioner Bhoj Raj
Pokhrel had presented a thematic paper on the subject highlighting the regional
and global perspective of EDR and electoral justice while the representatives
of the SAARC countries and Korea presented papers on their country perspective.
Joint secretary of the ECN Bir Bahadur Rai
informed that the outcome was the result of intensive discussion on the issues
of EDR and electoral justice among the participants from the representatives of
the respective EMBs, high level officials of ECN, former election
commissioners, former secretaries, representatives from political parties,
lawmakers, lawyers, development partners and media.
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