Kathmandu, Feb 26: The Nepal Army on Wednesday said it is implementing a three-phase integrated security plan, including aerial patrols and neutralising suspicious objects, for the general elections next week.
A total of 18.9 million eligible voters will exercise their franchise to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives (HoR), polling for which will be held from 7 am to 5 pm on March 5. The army said it has made arrangements for security management in three phases — before, during and after the election, so as to conduct the general election in a free, fair and fearless manner.
Necessary preparations have been completed by conducting election-related training and joint exercises, said Army Spokesperson Rajaram Basnet. As per the integrated security plan, the army will carry out security work at polling stations and counting sites, conduct aerial patrols, and neutralise suspicious objects during the election, the army spokesperson said. On the day of the voting, three-tier security will be provided at all the polling booths, and after the election, integrated teams will provide security during collecting and transporting the ballot boxes to the counting sites.
These integrated teams will include personnel from other security agencies, election officers and party representatives.
Besides Nepal Army personnel, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel will also be mobilised under the coordination of Nepal Army. As already announced, around 3,30,000 security people, including 80,000 Nepal Army personnel, will be mobilised for the purpose of conducting the election smoothly.