Nepal votes in local elections to consolidate democracy

By Deepak Adhikari

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AA) - Millions of Nepalis will head to the polls on Sunday for a historic local election being held for the first time after the end of war nearly 10 years ago.

In the first round of elections for local bodies, around 50,000 contenders are vying for the 13,556 positions in areas that cover almost half of the country. The second round of elections is scheduled for mid-June.

A vast majority of 15 million Nepalis who are eligible to vote will cast their ballot in 6,642 polling stations across the country, said Surya Prasad Sharma, an Election Commission spokesman.

Authorities have deployed some 46,000 civil servants to the polling stations that will be guarded by about 75,000 security forces including over 20,000 temporary police recruit, according to the Election Commission.

“We are all set to start. The ballot papers and boxes have already reached the polling stations. Voters can get their IDs from those stations,” he told Anadolu Agency.

The polls are Nepal’s first since the country adopted a new constitution in September 2015.

In the country’s capital Kathmandu, the ruling parties -- Nepali Congress and the Maoists -- and the opposition Unified Marxist-Leninist, face challenges from new political forces.

- 60 political parties

Bibeksheel Nepali, a political party founded by young urban elites of Kathmandu, has fielded Ranju Darshana, a 21-year-old woman for the mayor position whereas Sajha Party, a months-old group established by a former BBC journalist, has backed Kishor Thapa, a former bureaucrat and urban planner.

Nischal Dhakal, a 32-year-old medical doctor in Kathmandu, said he would vote for a candidate who instead of proposing big infrastructure projects, such as a metro train, will work on delivering basic services.

“Our roads are bad. We don’t have running water. Air pollution has made our city unlivable,” he told Anadolu Agency.

“I will vote for a candidate who has a practical approach to solve these problems, who can improve the existing infrastructure,” he said.

Some 60 political parties have fielded candidates whether for mayor, deputy mayor, head of village councils, etc. according to the Election Commission.

About 60 percent of the candidates are men. Under Nepalese law, parties are required to field at least one woman candidate in one local body.

Tilak Pathak, a Nepali journalist and political commentator, said the polls would help fill the lack of representation at local level.

- End of a vacuum

“The local areas have been without elected representatives for many years now. This election will end that vacuum,” he said.

Pathak said the elections will help Nepal consolidate the political transformation -- the country went from a Hindu kingdom to a secular republic, creating several federal states aimed at empowering local communities.

“Earlier, the local bodies were only units of development. But after the polls, they will govern themselves without any interference from the central government,” he said.

Nepalis elected their local representatives 20 years ago, with their terms ending five years later. But the polls were delayed because the country was convulsed by a bloody civil war, which ended in 2006 after the death of 16,000 people.

Since then, a series of coalition governments have taken turns in ruling the impoverished country of 28 million people.

Nepal gained some degree of stability after it promulgated a new constitution two years ago. The polls for parliament should be held before the third week of January 2018.

The constitution also requires that the government hold polls for provincial assemblies by the end of this year.