When (or if) elections are ever held in Nepal, the country can tap the experience of dozens of Nepalis who have organised smooth polls in the world's hotspots.

The latest is Afghanistan, where four out of eight provincial coordinators for the recently held elections were Nepalis working for the United Nations. Despite the killing of several voter registration officials, intimidation by militants and the threat of violence on election day, Afghans thronged to the polling stations. There was nearly 90 percent turnout, and the biggest surprise was that women came out to vote in droves.

Naresh Bhatta, who was provincial coordinator for the western province of Heart, was in the UN compound when it was attacked and set on fire on 10 September. Bhatta (pictured) lost all his belongings and records, but still managed to conduct the polls successfully.

"We had planned it very well," says Bhatta, who is in Kathmandu for the holidays. "We divided up the constituencies into sensitive and non-sensitive and just tried to foresee every eventuality."

The other Nepali provincial coordinators are Subhadayak Shah, who looked after Kabul, Hari Prasad in Mazar-e-Sharif and Neel Kantha Upreti in Jalalabad. The only other serious incident took place after the elections were held and Hamid Karzai was declared winner when three UN staffers were kidnapped in broad daylight from a Kabul street. They have still not been released.

Bhatta says the western province of Heart is "more remote than Humla" and conducting elections there was the most challenging thing he has ever done in his life. That means something because Bhatta has previously helped organise elections in East Timor, Cambodia and Kosovo. He will now be going to Iraq.

"Nepalis used to be known for their bravery in battle, they are now known in the UN system as people who can administer and manage countries in transitions to democracy," says Bhatta. The inevitable question: how about Nepal?

Bhatta says elections in Nepal can be held, it just needs to be planned right and there has to be integrity and political will. And he is willing to help if asked. He adds: "We have to solve it with the ballot, not the bullet."