CEPPS Quarterly Report: January 1, 2012 to March 31, 2012

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 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, which have led to a loss of public confidence in a multiparty system of democracy. Political parties lack internal democratic practices that encourage local party branches and members, including women, youth, and marginalized groups, to participate in the development of positions on policy issues. Additionally, political parties lack organized and transparent resource mobilization, and have difficulties in membership recruitment and retention. The program aims to strengthen political parties, electoral, and legislative processes in Nepal. To achieve this, IFES and NDI will work to ensure that Nepal develops a body of legislation on the electoral process that is comprehensive, coherent, and consistent. IFES will also improve the capacity of the Election Commission of Nepal (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, strengthen the capacity of citizen oversight of the electoral process, and support the institutional strengthening of the Constituent Assembly (CA)/Parliament. The program will focus on promoting and strengthening broader political processes, including the organizational weaknesses and poor governance records of Nepali political parties. This will involve improving democratic political party organizational structures and operations, enhancing the electoral competitiveness of political parties, and strengthening the capacity of civil society to monitor elections. Additionally, the program will focus on improving the democratic functioning of the Constituent Assembly (CA)/Parliament, including the shortage of CA members with technical expertise to draft and review proposed legislation, and the lack of public information on the latest developments in the constitutional development process and the work of the legislature. The program will also focus on strengthening institutions involved in electoral processes, including the ECN, which has been praised for its credible electoral process and well-managed CA election in 2008. However, there were shortcomings and irregularities in the electoral process, including problems with the voter list and registration process, interference from some election and government officials, and an inadequate process to resolve election complaints. The program will work to maintain the ECN's credibility and build on its institutional capacity to remain a strong pillar in Nepal's ongoing march from war to peace and from a monarchy to a Federal Democratic Republic. The program will be implemented over a period of four years, from August 2010 to August 2015, with a total budget of $23,900,000. The program will be implemented by IFES and NDI, with IFES focusing on electoral process management, voter education, and capacity building, and NDI focusing on political party development assistance, citizen oversight of the electoral process, and institutional strengthening of the Constituent Assembly (CA)/Parliament.