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Nepal goes to the polls today

— Photo: AFP

Election atmosphere: A street with flags and banners in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

KATHMANDU: Nepal has completed preparations for Thursday’s historic Constituent Assembly election amid incidents of sporadic violence.

The Election Commission of Nepal has appealed to the people to cast their votes without fear. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, Maoist chairman Prachanda, and UML general secretary Madhav Nepal have also urged the countrymen to take part in the historic polls.

Even King Gyanendra, whose fate will be decided by the first session of the Constituent Assembly, issued a statement on Wednesday appealing to people to take part in the elections.

Since all the major parties have said they want a republican set-up in the future, the 240-year-old monarchy is sure to be voted out by the Constituent Assembly.

On the eve of the elections, concern is being expressed on the security front. The killing of seven Maoists cadres in Dang and a UML poll candidate in Surkhet on Tuesday has dampened the poll spirit. The Maoist cadres died when police opened fire to foil an attack on a vehicle carrying NC candidate and former Home Minister, Khum Bahadur Khadka. Following the incident, Khadka gave up his candidacy saying he and his family were facing threats.

UML poll candidate in Surkhet, Rishi Prasad Sharma, died when unidentified gunmen opened fire at him on Tuesday evening. The UML party has blamed the Nepali Congress for the killing. The Election Commission has cancelled the Surkhet-1 election after Sharma’s death.

One person died on Wednesday morning in police firing when angry supporters of UML tried to storm a local police station in Surkhet. Following the incident, Nepal urged the UML cadres to maintain restraint.

A number of clashes have taken place involving the cadres of the three major parties —the NC, the UML and the Maoists — even a day before the poll. The NC and UML have blamed the Maoists for restricting their polling agents from reaching various polling stations.

The government has mobilised 45,000 armed police personnel, 48,000 general police and about 75,000 temporary police to maintain law and order and to hold the polls in a free and fair atmosphere.

There are about 100,000 national observers and about 800 international observers observing the polls in over 21,000 polling stations across the country.

The first-past-the-post system will elect 240 members and the PR system will elect 335 members to the Constituent Assembly. The Cabinet will nominate 26 more members in the 601 Constituent Assembly. Over 3700 poll candidates are in the fray in the first-past-the-post system and 5700 in the PR system. Nearly 17 million Nepalis are eligible to exercise their franchise.

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