CEPPS/IFES Quarterly Report: October 1, 2012–December 31, 2012

Despite multiple successive deadlines issued by the President for the formation of a national unity/consensus government, little progress was made, and the situation remained unresolved by the end of the quarter. The opposition parties refused to accept the caretaker government's insistence on a package deal covering election date, appointments to constitutional bodies, an electoral legal framework, and resolution of outstanding constitutional disagreements before it stepped down. The caretaker government's announcement of an April/May 2013 election date was widely discarded by the end of the quarter, except by the media. Key events, including the announcement of a UCPN (M) national convention for early February 2013, the failure to plan for replacements for the Election Commissioners, and the signing of a budget ordinance by the President, indicated that the caretaker government was not serious about holding elections. The Election Commission had also indicated that if the electoral legal framework was not in place by the end of December/early January, they would not organize April/May elections. IFES continued to engage with the Electoral Commission of Nepal (ECN) on constitutional and legal requirements for a future election, including the delegation of ECN powers. IFES provided comment on the latest draft of the Political Party law presented by the ECN to workshops for parties. The organization also conducted an analysis of new census data and its impact on representation quotas, and engaged with political parties on their discussions about reducing the number of seats in the next parliament, which would have a critical impact on women's and/or minority representation. IFES provided technical and capacity-building support to the ECN, assisting them to understand gaps in current voter registration performance and plan future voter registration activities. The organization promoted understanding in the ECN and the donor community of the implications of using electronic voting machines (EVMs) and provided a preliminary assessment of the ECN's ballot printing capacity and needs for a forthcoming election. IFES also maintained its lead coordination role in Building Resources in Democracy, Governance, and Elections (BRIDGE), working with the ECN and its BRIDGE partners, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). IFES supported the ECN in commencing design work on new outreach manuals, presentation materials to be used by electoral educators down to community level, and materials to be used in electoral education by social studies teachers. The organization provided significant advice to UNDP ESP-supported Voter Education (VE) consultants in developing proposals for voter education strategies and ESP education materials. IFES also provided materials support for voter education through its civil society organization (CSO) sub-awardees, who conducted a campaign to support the ECN's voter registration program. The CSO sub-grantees completed their scheduled activities to end December, motivating and educating their target groups - youth, women, Dalits, and Freed Kamaiyas - on continuous voter registration. A major focus of the program was on reaching potential voters, especially returning migrants, during the October/November festival season in Nepal. Training and preparations for five mini surveys were completed, and IFES and the National Federation for the Disabled, Nepal (NFDN) commenced the development of a 2-year project to support participation in electoral/civic activities by people with disabilities. Analyses of issues such as voter registration and census data, citizenship certificate issues, the ECN's plans to use EVMs versus paper ballots, draft election ordinances, minority quotas, and election preparation activities were distributed to stakeholders.