Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov 20: In order to put an end to the political unrest that has dogged the nation for more than ten years and stifled growth, millions of Nepalese started casting their votes on Sunday to elect a new parliament and provincial assemblies. This was done in the face of intense security.
At more than 22,000 polling places, voting began at 7 am local time and will end at 5 pm. According to Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, strict security will be in place as voting begins at 9 p.m. on Sunday.
After casting her ballot at a polling location in Bhaktapur, Thapaliya announced to the media that the counting would begin at 9 p.m. today.
According to Thapaliya, the commission will disclose all of the first-past-the-post election results over the course of the next eight days while waiting until December 8 to announce the results of the proportional representation elections.
A 275-member House of Representatives will be chosen by more than 17.9 million eligible voters. 165 of the 275 members of parliament will be chosen by direct vote, and the other 110 will be chosen using a proportional electoral system. Voters will also select delegates for seven provincial assemblies at the same time.
330 of the 550 members of the provincial assemblies will be chosen directly, and the remaining 220 will be chosen using a proportional system.
Political analysts who were closely following the elections projected a hung parliament and an administration that would probably not bring Nepal the necessary level of political stability.
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Since the end of the decade-long Maoist insurgency, political instability has frequently been a feature of Nepal’s Parliament, and no prime minister has held office for a full term since the end of the civil war in 2006.
The country’s sluggish economic growth has been attributed to the frequent changes and party fighting.
The two main political alliances running for office are the CPN-UML-led leftist and pro-Hindu, pro-monarchy alliance and the democratic, leftist alliance led by the Nepali Congress, which is currently in power.
