The Election Commission Nepal has been taking steps to find solutions to electoral disputes so that elections are as credible as possible.

Electoral dispute resolution and electoral justice are core elements for credible elections and a strengthened democracy. In line with its mandate, UNDP’s Electoral Support Project (ESP) has been contributing to strengthening Nepal’s electoral justice system to effectively resolve electoral disputes.

The project supported the Election Commission, Nepal (ECN) in developing a procedure for electoral dispute resolution, as well as related training manuals. Based on this, the ECN conducted capacity building training sessions with representatives from political parties, the District Administration Office, the Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, journalists, observers and civil society.

The idea behind this strategy was that bringing together the diverse electoral stakeholders, and particularly the political parties, would help resolve electoral disputes. Furthermore, it would provide a venue to discuss issues that may turn into electoral disputes in the future, and give the ECN the opportunity to inform stakeholders on how to address such matters in a systematic way. “An electoral dispute resolution mechanism will help fix electoral disputes in a timely manner and at the right level by the responsible authority for effective results,” said Chief Election Commissioner, Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, at a workshop in Kaski district.,

To complement this, the ESP also worked with the National Judicial Academy (NJA) to prepare and finalise a resource book on electoral justice, with inputs from the ECN. The book is the first of its kind and seeks to transmit knowledge of the technical aspects of elections from a legal perspective. Based on the resource book, the National Judicial Academy led the organisation of Master Training of Trainers on electoral justice, and put together five events on electoral justice in different parts of the country, drawing participation from representatives of the High Court, Office of the Attorney General and court officials.

These workshops targeted areas where the 30 November 2019 by-elections took place, and helped form a common understanding among different stakeholders on issues of electoral justice and electoral dispute resolution. The training on electoral dispute resolution had 147 participants, including 35 women; every single attendee reported enhanced knowledge after taking part in the session. The workshops on electoral justice also had an equal number of participants, including 11 women; 99 percent reported enhanced knowledge post-training. Following these series of workshops, the Electoral Support Project will contribute to updating and publishing the reference and training materials so that they can continue to be used to improve electoral justice in Nepal.

The Electoral Support Project- Phase II (ESP) is a technical assistance initiative which focuses on a long-term institutional and professional capacity development of the Election Commission (ECN) for conducting credible, inclusive and transparent elections. The objectives of the project are 1) to strengthen the capacity of the ECN to function as an independent and credible institution, 2) to allow the conduct of the election cycle in an effective, sustainable, and credible manner, and 3) to increase democratic participation, particularly for under-represented and disadvantaged segments of the Nepali society. In 2019, the ESP was funded by the EU and UNDP.