MUNICIPAL ELECTION PRIMER

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000247

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SA/INS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2016
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS NP
SUBJECT: MUNICIPAL ELECTION PRIMER

REF: KATHMANDU 228

Classified By: DCM Elisabeth I. Millard. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

SUMMARY
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1. (U) Fourteen percent of the total number of voters in
Nepal live in the 58 municipalities. Voters must be at least
18 and candidates must be at least 21. In the 58
municipalities where February 8 elections are scheduled for
over 4,000 seats, depending on population, there are between
nine and 35 wards, making a total of 806 wards up for
election. The tenure of the elected and nominated members of
any municipality is five years. The last local body election
was held in 1997. The latest date to file for candidacy in
the forthcoming municipal election is January 26. End
summary.

MUNICIPALITIES - PROVIDING SERVICES TO CITIZENS
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2. (U) Each of Nepal's 58 municipalities is an autonomous
local body, which carries out development activities with the
help of elected and nominated members of ward committees.
Municipalities are divided into wards. There are a total of
806 wards in the municipalities, with each municipality
having between nine and thirty-five wards, depending on
population. The municipality and its ward committees carry
out local activities such as building and maintaining roads,
establishing libraries, cleaning old ponds and wells,
repairing water taps, renovating temples and monasteries,
carrying out tree plantings, launching vaccination programs,
and awarding birth certificates. In addition, most foreign
donor agencies work through local bodies to implement
development projects. Municipalities work closely with
District Administration Offices and the Ministry of Local
Development in order to conduct development activities in an
efficient manner and to access government funding.

MUNICIPAL LEADERSHIP
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3. (U) Each municipality is headed by a Town Council
consisting of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairmen from
each ward, and six to 35 other council members. The Mayor,
Deputy Mayor and Ward Chairmen nominate the remaining council
members from among social activists and "backward"
communities (ethnic groups, dalits and indigenous groups).
The tenure of the elected and nominated members of the
municipality is five years. A total of 4,416 offices are
open for election on February 8, including Mayors, Deputy
Mayors, and Ward Chairmen. The last municipal election was
held in 1997.

CANDIDATES
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4. (U) Those who are 21 years of age and above may contest
the municipal election. Candidates should be Nepali
citizens, have no pending bills or loans owed to the
municipality, and not have been involved in criminal
activities. January 26 is the deadline to register as a
candidate in the February 8 election.

ELIGIBLE VOTERS
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5. (U) Those men and women who are residents of the
municipality, are at least 18 years of age, and have a valid
voter's identity card are eligible to vote in the municipal
election. Within the 58 municipalities, the number of
eligible voters is 1,942,990, including 966,189 women. This
is approximately 14 percent of the total voters in Nepal.

VOTER'S IDENTITY CARDS
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6. (SBU) Each voter should have a voter's identity card in
order to vote. However, the Election Commission (EC) told
EmbOff that, although the voters' list has been updated, the
EC had not been able to issue voter's identity cards to all
voters. Therefore, voters may use any kind of identity card,
such as a student identity card or driver's license.

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS
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7. (SBU) The EC stated that it had been unable to make
arrangements to address internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Currently, the only way for IDPs to participate in the
election is to return to their municipality to cast their
vote to elect their representatives. (Note: There are over
100,000 IDPs in Nepal. Most of those are from the
countryside, and would therefore not be eligible to vote in
these elections. The government has told us it planned to
address IDPs in the national elections. End note.)

POLLING STATIONS
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8. (U) Polling stations are based in school buildings, city
halls, and other public buildings, and civil police provide
security. The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) will be in charge of
the overall security for the election. Altogether 1,394
election centers have been set up for the municipal election.

SMALLER POLITICAL PARTIES IN POLL FRAY
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9. (U) The EC has recognized 72 political parties, which
have applied for the municipal elections to be held on
February 8. Of the 72 parties, 52 parties have not
previously taken part in elections. All the major political
parties announced that they would boycott the polls.
Although some fringe parties had stated that they would take
part in the election, many have recently publicly said they
were in a dilemma because of the fragile peace and security
situation in the country. However, parties will need to
declare whether they will participate in the elections by
January 26, when candidate nominations are due.

COMMENT
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10. (C) Municipal activities directly impact day-to-day
problems and issues. Elected municipal leaders can
independently address those local problems. Thus the
municipal election is important for the implementation of
local development activities and for local governance.
However, there are many security concerns swirling about
these elections. The Maoists have already assassinated one
candidate for Mayor and a local Maoist claimed that action
was taken "per party policy." People will be hard-pressed to
choose whether to brave the security risks to elect their
representatives.
MORIARTY