Nepal Foreign Affairs (KATHMANDU, 19 September 2017) – Japan has appreciated the ”peaceful” local elections of Nepal and expects the scheduled provincial and federal election will be conducted in the same manner.
Issuing a statement on Tuesday, Japan has also said that it was committed to supporting the Government of Nepal to the best possible extent.
Here is the full text of the statement :
- The third phase of the local elections was conducted on 18 September, 2017. This election follows the first and second phases of local elections which were held in May and June this year. This is a significant progress towards the implementation of the Constitution that was promulgated in 2015.
- Japan sent an election observation team consisting of members from the Embassy of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
- Based on the results of the observations, Japan appreciates that, overall, the local elections were conducted in a peaceful and fair manner. Japan would like to pay its sincere respects to the people of Nepal who contributed to the successful holding of local elections after a break of 20 years.
- The provincial and federal assembly elections are scheduled respectively on 26 November and 7 December. Japan expects that these elections will also be conducted in a peaceful and fair manner through the experiences gained from the local elections. Japan has actively supported the implementation of elections, which are the base of the development of democratization in Nepal, through the Nepal Election Commission, including the 1 st and 2nd Constituent Assembly elections. Japan is committed to supporting the Government of Nepal to the best possible extent.