A quick prayer request for the elections about to take place…
Nepal’s last local elections were in 1997. Then the Maoist civil war made them impossible for a decade, and the new post-war constitutional order has taken a while to get off the ground (to say the least). As a result, for two decades there hasn’t been a lot of accountability at local level; this has fed problems like the ones Joel witnessed in Mugu. The people making decisions have been appointed officials, not elected ones.
The major political parties have been vying over Nepal’s new constitution, and even after local elections were scheduled for 2017, it wasn’t clear for a long time whether they would be possible. But it now looks like they’ll take place in two rounds: on Sunday May 14 in half the country, and on June 14 in the other half.
These elections are crucial both for consolidating Nepal’s peace process and increasing the quality of local government.
Please do take a moment and pray for them to go ahead smoothly and successfully. Thanks!
Joel & Fiona Hafvenstein 