Tibetan Elections:
Nepali Police Confiscate Ballot Boxes in Kathmandu[Monday, 4 October 2010, 3:40 p.m.]
Dharamshala:
The first round of polling for Kalon Tripa and Tibetan
Parliament-in-Exile in Nepal was disrupted as police took away ballot
boxes during the voting in Kathmandu on Sunday, said Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) Jampel Choesang, quoting a reliable source.The
source informed us on phone yesterday that his office had been granted
permission by the district authority in Kathmandu to conduct voting.However
on the polling day, some 30 Nepalese police arrived at polling booths
in Swayambhunath monastery (Tibetan: Phagshing) and Boudha (Tib:
Choeten) and took away the ballot boxes, the source said.The
Nepali police said that they had orders from the Nepal’s ministry of
home.The source said efforts are on to request the Nepalese
government to return the ballot boxes.We are also appealing for
help from human rights and refugee agencies in Nepal, he said.We
can’t say anything on the prospect of getting back the ballot boxes,
the source added.The CEC said in a democratic system of
governance there is provision for re-election in case of disruption in
voting process.Except Kathmandu, the first phase of polling went
peacefully without any untoward incidents in other parts of the world,
the CEC said.
