61% Voting In Nepal’s Parliament, Provincial Elections, Result Within Week

Nepal's parliament and provincial assembly elections were marred by sporadic violence and clashes that killed one person and disrupted voting at several polling stations on Sunday.

Over 22,000 polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time and closed at 5 p.m.

“The nationwide voter turnout has been around 61 per cent. This figure is likely to rise slightly as we continue to receive information from districts across the country,” Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, Chief Election Commissioner, told reporters.

“This is certainly less than we anticipated,” he added.

Voter turnout is significantly lower than in the previous two elections, with 77 per cent in 2013 and 78 per cent in 2017.

More than 17.9 million people were eligible to vote in the election of a 275-member House of Representatives and provincial legislatures.

Except for a few minor incidents, Thapaliya said the elections were mostly peaceful. As a result of such incidents, voting has been postponed in 15 polling stations across four districts, according to him. 

However, security has been increased in all 77 districts across the country, with air patrols around polling stations and international borders closed for 72 hours.

He also said that the Election Commission has directed the relevant election offices in those districts to make the necessary arrangements for the elections to take place within two days.

The counting of votes will begin tonight in three districts of Kathmandu Valley, he said, adding that it will be completed within a week.

One person was killed after being shot at a polling station in Tribeni Municipality's Nateshwari Basic School in Bajura. According to officials, the 24-year-old man was shot dead by police after a disagreement between two groups after the voting was completed.

A minor explosion occurred near the Sharda Secondary School polling station in Kailali district's Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan City. However, there were no casualties, and voting continued in the polling station despite the incident with only a half-hour interruption.

There have been reports of heated arguments between party cadres in 11 districts, including Dhangadi, Gorkha and Dolakha. However, they claimed that it did not affect the polling.

Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister and President of the Nepali Congress (NC) voted in his home district of Dadeldhura. He voted in the morning at the Ashigram Secondary School polling station in Ruwakhola, Ganyapdhura rural municipality-1. Deuba had attended this school.

Since 1991, Deuba has won every election in Dadeldhura. According to The Himalayan Times, he is running for the seventh time in this election for federal parliament member.

K P Sharma Oli, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), voted at the Suryabinayak Municipality polling station in the Bhaktapur district near Kathmandu.

After voting, Oli told reporters that his CPN-UML alliance would secure a clear majority and form the next government by 1 December.

“The UML will form a majority government, or at the very least a coalition government comprised of parties that formed an alliance with us in the elections,” he claimed. 

Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, chairman of the CPN-Maoist Centre and former prime minister, voted at the Bharatpur Municipality polling station in Chitawan district.

“The next government will most likely be formed under the leadership of the Nepali Congress and I will contest the post of Parliamentary Party leader to advance my claim for the top executive position,” NC general secretary Gagan Thapa said after voting in Kathmandu constituency No 4.

Another NC leader, former deputy prime minister Prakash Man Singh said that the leaders of the five-party alliance will meet to decide who will lead the next government and the next steps.

165 of the 275 Members of Parliament will be elected directly, while the remaining 110 will be elected through a proportional electoral system.

At the same time, voters chose representatives for seven provincial assemblies.

A total of 550 provincial assembly members will be elected directly, with 330 elected directly and 220 elected through the proportional method.

Political observers keeping a close eye on the elections predicted a hung parliament and a government that is unlikely to provide Nepal with the necessary political stability.

Since the end of the decade-long Maoist insurgency in 2006, political instability has been a recurring feature of Nepal's Parliament and no prime minister has served a full term.

The country's slow economic growth has been blamed on frequent changes and party fighting.

The elections will be contested by two major political alliances: the ruling Nepali Congress-led democratic and leftist alliance and the CPN-UML-led leftist and pro-Hindu, pro-monarchy alliance.

The Nepali Congress, led by Prime Minister Deuba, has formed an electoral alliance with former Maoist guerrilla leader Prachanda, 67, to challenge former Prime Minister Oli, 70.

The ruling alliance led by the Nepali Congress includes the CPN-Maoist Centre, the CPN-Unified Socialist and the Madhes-based Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, while the CPN-UML alliance includes the pro-Hindu Rashtriya Prajatantra Party and the Madhes-based Janata Samajwadi Party.

The next government will face challenges such as maintaining a stable political administration, revitalising the tourism industry and balancing relations with China and India.

There are 867 independents among the 2,412 candidates running for federal Parliament.

The CPN-UML has fielded 141 candidates, while the Nepali Congress and the CPN-Maoist Centre have fielded 91 and 46 candidates, respectively.