The government formed on the strength of the Gen-G movement on Bhadra 23-24 has completed the elections on time. Voting was completed peacefully across the country on Thursday. In this context, A brief conversation with Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal :

What were the main challenges facing the government when it came to the situation created after the Gen-G movement and now has to hold the elections?

The Gen-G movement caused a huge loss of human and national wealth. A kind of legal statelessness or power vacuum arose. There was a lot of confusion, then anger and suspicion. In the meantime, we had to work to reduce the conflict, stop the violence and prevent it from recurring. To play that kind of role, we had to win everyone's trust.

The situation was such that the forces that lost power yesterday would have restored the parliament and those who came from the rebellion should get everything before the elections. That was the main challenge. Some government officials initially suspected us, that was the biggest challenge. But, gradually we worked to balance the opposing groups or forces and win everyone's trust. From there, the situation normalized. After the rule of law was guaranteed, good governance and service delivery were strengthened, an environment for elections was gradually created. What did the government do to overcome those challenges? Since we come from a background of advocating for the rule of law and practicing it, the issue of enforcing the law remained a major one. When the rule of law was lacking, the country would be unsafe, the constitution would be unsafe, and the lives of citizens would be unsafe, everyone understood the situation. In the meantime, there was widespread talk that elections would not be held on time and that an alternative to the government would be sought. How did the government handle that? Some figures made such statements. This constitution is also not good, so it should be thrown away, a new agreement should be made, and some comments were made with the idea that they should be the center and that they themselves would be the beneficiaries. Such activities were carried out against this system by sharing that kind of partnership with vested interests. There were also things that changed the subject. But, we ignored those things.

Even though the election was held peacefully today, the turnout was less than before, right?

Earlier, booths were captured, votes were also cast in the names of dead people and people living abroad. In some centers of Dolakha and Syangja, 98-99 percent of the votes were cast. Now we have completely stopped that. In Syangja, as far as we have information, about 52 percent of the votes have been cast. Therefore, the number of votes cast now is as much as it should be. This is the current reality, not the previous one. The higher percentage was seen because the booths were captured first and votes were cast.

What should be the priority of the new government now?

The number one priority should be to prevent corruption. Service delivery should be improved. Anarchy should not be allowed to arise. Both corruption and anarchy should be defeated.