Clean election could not be practiced in letter and spirit: CEM

March 2, 2023 53 Views No Comment

Dimapur, March 2 (MExN): With voting for the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly coming to an end, the Clean Election Movement (NBCC) has said that it “takes moral responsibility that clean election could not be practiced in letter and in spirit.”

In a press release on Wednesday, CEM Convener Dr Villo Naleo lamented the condemned the needless loss of lives. “We are saddened by the rampant violence, malpractices and proxy voting that has been cast. When national media celebrate and flash the over 84% voter’s turnout in Nagaland, our head hang in shame because each conscientious voter in Nagaland knows the reality that is reflected in the highly inflated turnout percentage,” he stated in the release.

Dr Naleo stated that when the Nagaland Baptist Church Council staged the CEM, “we understood the enormity of the task before us,” and fully appreciated that it would be a long and a tiring process. “But despite the limitations and challenges of CEM, we are encouraged and emboldened by the commitment of numerous individuals and organizations that came out in support and practiced the principles of clean election,” he said while expressing gratitude.

Maintaining that the CEM is convinced that it can stay on course, it stated that these “seeds of hope, and traction of change that is slowly but will surely shape the Nagaland that we envision. Because we believe that the smallest of light is more powerful and will conquer the darkest and strongest of force that seems insurmountable.”

It further stated that the CEM would review and strategize its course of actions with renewed vigour, commitment, lessons learned and faith in God. We continue to solicit the support and active participation of all citizens, organizations and government establishments to make Clean Election a reality in our land, it added.