How Is The Nepali Army Being Deployed In The Elections 2082? The Office of the President has approved the mobilisation of the Nepali Army targeting the upcoming House of Representatives elections to be held on 21 Falgun.
The path to the mobilisation of the army has been cleared with the approval of the recommendation made by the Council of Ministers, by President Ram Chandra Poudel on 11 Magh. Phased work had been done earlier to mobilise the army for the elections.
The Central Security Committee meeting on 9 October formed a task force under the coordination of Anand Kafle, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, to formulate an Integrated Election Security Plan 2082.
This security plan mentions how security agencies will be mobilised during the election period. In addition, the meeting had also decided to propose the mobilisation of the Nepali Army. This proposal had reached the National Security Council. On 4 Magh, the 41st meeting of the Security Council held at the Singha Durbar office had approved it and decided to recommend to the Council of Ministers to mobilise the army for the election.
With this, the question has arisen as to how and when the Nepali Army will be mobilised. We have also inquired with the Nepali Army and prepared this report.
When will the army be mobilised?
The President’s Office has approved the mobilisation of the army about three months before the election, concluding that the security challenge this time is greater than in previous elections.
It has been concluded that the security challenge has increased due to the situation that arose after the Genji movement, the large-scale loss of weapons and ammunition of the security forces, the large number of prisoners still escaping from prison, and even those in custody escaping.
The decision makes it clear that the army will be mobilised well before the elections. However, the Nepali Army has said that the date has not yet been confirmed. Nepali Army Spokesperson and Assistant Lieutenant General Rajaram Basnet says, “It has not been confirmed when the army will be mobilised. We are in consultation on this.”
How will the army be mobilised?
There is a lot of interest in how the army will be mobilised. The army has classified it into three phases and is preparing to mobilise.
Army spokesperson Basnet also agrees with this. “The army will be mobilised according to the security challenges by classifying them into three phases,” Assistant Lieutenant Colonel and spokesperson Basnet told Online News.
Its main objective is to create an environment for the election and to ensure that the election will be held without fear.
The day after the approval for the mobilisation of the army, Prime Minister Sushila Karki, who reached the military headquarters, Jangi Adda, had also instructed the army to be deployed in such a way that not a single drop of blood would be shed in the election.
During the election, the Nepali Army will provide security in the outer perimeter, i.e. away from the polling station. In such a situation, if something happens at the polling station, the army will be deployed in the outer perimeter if the police and the armed forces are unable to do so.
Spokesperson Basnet says that the army will also be deployed to collect and transport ballot boxes and secure the counting site after the election.
How many troops will be mobilised?
It has been proposed to recruit more than 132,000 temporary police officers just for the elections. No decision has been made as this is still under discussion.
In addition to the temporary police, the Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force, the National Investigation Department (Intelligence) and the Nepal Army will also be mobilised for the elections.
The army is preparing to mobilise the necessary manpower, including office security, security of important individuals and establishments, and even the number of troops on the mission. It is not yet clear how much manpower will be mobilised from the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force.