Chief election officer of Kanchanpur district and justice Rajendra Kumar Acharya has written a letter to Election Commission (EC), urging the election body to forbid the European Union (EU) representatives from observing elections in the district.

Chief election officer Acharya said he wrote a letter on Tuesday recommending the EC to stop EU representatives from observing elections in all three election constituencies of the district as they were found being involved in activities against the election code of conduct. A three-member EU team including two foreigners and Nepali interpreter Pushkar Pandey had arrived last week in Kanchanpur.

“We recommended action against the EU representatives after they were found involved in objectionable activities such as entering the district court and asking the officials about political situation of the district,” said chief election officer Acharya. “Their activities have breach the jurisdiction of court.”

He said the EU team met all three election officers including him and enquired about elections in the distirct. “The EU team entered the district court on Sunday and asked various questions including the posting of staffers and political issues.”

“After learning about their entry into the court premises, I called Nepali representative Pushkar Pandey and raised objection about their intervention about the court’s jurisdiction. But he said they had to enquire about elections with the concerned stakeholders,” said Acharya.

He questioned if it would be appropriate to visit the barracks of Nepal Army and Police in the name of monitoring the offices of stakeholders. He added that action was recommended against the EU representatives for violating the election code of conduct.