CEPPS Quarterly Report: January 1, 2011 to March 31, 2011

The country is drafting a new constitution and solidifying peace after a decade-long civil war. Major political stakeholders anticipate that the drafting process will lay out a new federal government structure more representative than the current centralized system. However, the country's political environment has become increasingly unstable, and the constitution drafting process has been slow. The poor performance of political parties and the lack of consensus within parliament have fed the loss of public confidence in multi-party politics. The lack of understanding of citizen concerns and priorities has resulted in party platforms and campaign strategies that were neither relevant nor compelling. In preparing for previous elections, candidate selection processes were not transparent, and candidates were not fully aware of their respective parties' policy positions. Political parties lack the capacity to plan and organize effective electoral campaigns, and are short on technical and practical resources to conduct campaigns in a competitive political environment. There is an underdeveloped culture within civil society and the media of monitoring the activities of political parties. The Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) has been praised for its management of the 2008 CA election, but there were shortcomings and irregularities in the electoral process. The ECN undertook a series of post-election evaluations with stakeholders at a national and local level. Maintaining the ECN's credibility and building on its institutional capacity will be crucial in Nepal's ongoing march from war to peace and from a monarchy to a Federal Democratic Republic. Shortcomings in Nepal's election process persist, including problems with the voter list and registration process, interference from some election and government officials, abuse of state resources for campaign purposes, and an inadequate process to resolve election complaints. The CEPPS partners have identified several challenges that will be addressed through this program. These challenges include organizational weaknesses and poor governance records of Nepali political parties, lack of internal democratic practices, and difficulties in membership recruitment and retention. Political parties also lack the institutional ability to formulate policy solutions and engage constituents and non-governmental stakeholders in public policy discussions. The program aims to strengthen political parties, electoral, and legislative processes in Nepal by achieving several specific objectives. IFES will work to ensure that Nepal develops a body of legislation on the electoral process that is comprehensive, coherent, and consistent, which conforms to international standards and suits the socio-economic context and new political realities of Nepal. IFES will also improve the capacity of the ECN to manage future elections and consolidate its mandate and performance through the provision of high-level technical assistance in the legal, management, and technical aspects of elections and long-term professional development capacity building. NDI will promote and strengthen democratic political processes through political party development assistance, including improving democratic political party organizational structures and operations, enhancing the electoral competitiveness of political parties, strengthening the capacity of citizen oversight of the electoral process, and supporting the institutional strengthening of the ECN.