The Tamesis
kathmandu – As the House of Representatives elections approach, the government has begun accelerating the highest level of security updates on a daily basis.
Prime Minister Sushila Karki and Home Minister Om Prakash Ayyal held back-to-back security briefings on Tuesday to review the security situation, focusing on the March 5 elections.
Prime Minister Sushila Karki has been briefed by the heads of all security agencies on election preparations and the overall security situation, a notification issued by the Karki Private Secretariat said.
Security agencies have identified more than a dozen security challenges, including clashes between supporters of various political parties, communal riots, religious tensions, activities of monarchist factions, prisoners who escaped from jails during Gen Z protests in September and activities of political parties boycotting elections.
“We have more or less focused on what may pose security challenges, but those spreading rumors on social media, both domestically and abroad, remain a major source of challenges that need to be overcome,” a senior security official told The Washington Post.
He added that some communist leaders, factions and groups, individuals and activists advocating for the restoration of the monarchy and the Hindu state were opposed to the elections and therefore they were being closely monitored.
The activities of controversial monarchist Durga Prasain, a number of pro-royalist groups and certain communist factions and leaders who have called for a boycott of the elections are being closely monitored.
Ram Rawal, press adviser to Prime Minister Karki, said all security agency chiefs agreed that misinformation and disinformation on social media remained the biggest security and technological challenge and a serious threat to elections.
Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal, Chief Secretary Suman Raj Aryal, Chief of Army Staff Ashok Raj Sigdel, Home Secretary Rajkumar Shrestha, Director, Peace and Security Department, Ministry of Home Affairs, Anand Kafle, Director General of Nepal Police Dan Bahadur Karki, Director General of Armed Police Forces Raju Aryal and State Investigation Department Secretary Tekendra Karki were also present and reviewed the current security management, possible challenges and strategies adopted to address these challenges.
“The prime minister discussed the worst-case scenario and the best-case scenario of the security situation. All four security agency chiefs assured the prime minister that such a massive security deployment was being deployed for the first time in Nepal’s electoral history,” Rawal, who attended the meeting, told The Washington Post.
More than 300,000 security personnel have been deployed, and some troops are on standby to respond to emergencies.
Similarly, the Nepal Army and Police have set up dedicated IT teams to combat misinformation, disinformation, deepfakes and other tampered content on social media to ensure that elections are not disrupted.
Prime Minister Karki said in the meeting that the election security situation so far is satisfactory.
After the meeting, Karki wrote on her Facebook wall that a detailed discussion and review of election preparations and the overall security situation took place in Baruwata on Tuesday.
“There is no doubt about the security arrangements. Taking into account the potential challenges and risks, all mechanisms have mobilized necessary vigilance, strict monitoring and effective coordination.”
“The government will spare no effort to ensure that the elections are conducted in a free, fair, fearless and peaceful manner,” Karki said, adding that “all citizens are urged to exercise their right to vote with confidence and without fear.”
Earlier on Tuesday, a high-level security committee meeting concluded that there were no major security challenges that could affect the election.
A committee meeting held at the Electoral Commission concluded that security arrangements for the election were strong and no significant threats were identified. Senior officials from all security agencies briefed on the security situation in the country ahead of the elections.
Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said the meeting also discussed potential security challenges that may arise during the elections and ways to appropriately address them. “Representatives of security agencies informed that the peace and security situation is strong,” he said. “They also said that the environment is conducive for political parties to carry out their activities peacefully and voters can exercise their right to vote without fear.”
During the meeting, security officials claimed that isolated incidents of confrontation and conflict should not be considered national issues. They said security agencies were handling the incidents appropriately.
“Where some incidents occurred, the proactive role of local governments prevented any unpleasant incidents. The overall environment across the country is becoming poll-friendly,” he said.
