UN Security Council urges Nepal to set early date for election

The United Nations Security Council has urged Nepal to set an early date for Constituent Assembly elections, which have been postponed twice in recent months.

Kathmandu, Oct 26 : The United Nations Security Council has urged Nepal to set an early date for Constituent Assembly elections, which have been postponed twice in recent months.

Although no formal or informal statement was issued following a discussion among the Security Council members, it's President for October, Ambassador Leslie K. Christian from Ghana, was quoted on Thursday as saying: "The Council members expressed their deep concern over postponement of elections in Nepal and hoped that things would get back on the right path."

Member nations have asked Nepal to ''look into the possibility of elections before the end of the year,'' Christian was quoted by Nepalnews, as saying.

After the meeting, US Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said: "We expressed our disappointment, like a number of other colleagues, with regard to the postponement of the assembly elections and called on the government to set up a date promptly for the elections taking into account the requirements for free, fair and credible elections to take place.''

Supporting the role of the UN in Nepal, Khalilzad said: ''The election is part of a process for normalising the situation in Nepal.''

Khalilzad urged co-operation from all parties and stakeholders in Nepal.

"Everyone, all parties must do their part in terms of cooperating with their commitments, delivering on their commitments,'' he said.

Earlier, the UN Special Envoy on Nepal, Ian Martin, briefed the Security Council on the current situation in Nepal.

This is the second time in October that the Security Council has taken up the case of Nepal.

Earlier on October 10, Christian read out a statement after the meeting in which the Security Council agreed that the international community needs to help Nepal to ''create conditions'' necessary to hold credible elections.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his latest report to the Security Council, has urged the parties in Nepal to reach agreement on future steps, including a realistic timetable for elections that were to have been held next month but have been postponed to an as yet undetermined date.

Ban said: "Nepal stands at a crossroads, with the political parties having made significant progress amid persisting and serious difficulties."

"The peace process in Nepal is facing its most difficult challenges to date," he stated, adding: "The second postponement of the Constituent Assembly election has been a major disappointment for the people of Nepal and the international community."

The Secretary-General called on the parties to "take a hard look at their differences and the underlying weaknesses of the peace process."

In particular, he called for the Seven-Party Alliance's members "to set aside their lesser differences and maintain their unity in the interest of the common national agenda."

ANI