Citizens’ Statement – Rejection of UCPN-Maoist’s walkout from vote-counting

21 November 2013, Thursday

We hereby express our strong objection to the overnight move by the UPCN (Maoist) to walk out of the Constituent Assembly ballot-counting process, a full dozen hours after the exercise began. We welcome the commitment of the Election Commission and the Government of Nepal to continue with the process of ballot-counting and declaring winning candidates. We reject any and all demands being employed by the UCPN (Maoist) to obstruct the vote tallying process, including the call for ‘negotiations’, and ask for uninterrupted continuation of the electoral procedures.

We are all aware of the intense involvement of the committed Nepali electorate in the Constituent Assembly elections of 19 November. The UCPN (Maoist) leaders, including Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Vice-Chairman Baburam Bhattarai, have themselves publicly praised management of the elections and security arrangements.

We also note that the UCPN (Maoist) had taken the political lead in all developments related to these polls, from the establishment of the interim election government to defining the electoral regulations and process, up to the conclusion of the balloting-casting. We find the midnight statement released by the UCPN (Maoist) spokesperson as well as the views expressed by Chairman Dahal in the morning of 21 November to be wholly contradictory to the involvements of the party listed above.

At this critical hour, as a party which is supposed to have abandoned the use of violence in favour of peaceful politics, we demand that the UCPN (Maoist) accept the democratic process. We call on it to accept the people’s verdict, take care that its actions not be an embarrassment before the world, return to participate in the ballot-counting process, and prove its commitment to democracy through its deeds.

Signatories:

Amuda Shrestha, Chandrakishore, Charan Prasai, Kanak Mani Dixit and Subodh Raj Pyakurel