Voting in Nepal’s general elections was underway on Thursday, nearly six months after widespread protests toppled the KP Sharma Oli government.
More than 1.8 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots between 7 am and 5 pm to elect 275 members of Parliament.
Of these, 165 seats will be decided through direct voting. The remaining will be allocated under the proportional representation system, with political parties nominating lawmakers based on the share of votes the parties get.
The counting of votes will begin soon after the polling concludes.
While early trends are likely to start emerging by Friday, a complete result could take a week as counting of proportional representation votes would take time, Reuters quoted Election Commission officials as saying.
The crisis that led to the Oli government’s ouster had begun following protests sparked by Nepal’s ban on 26 social media platforms on September 4.
Although the Oli government lifted the social media ban on September 8, the agitation snowballed into a broader protest against alleged corruption and misgovernance. A day later, Oli resigned from his post.
At least 72 persons were killed in the protests.
The demonstrations were described as a protest mainly by “Gen Z”, generally referring to persons born between the late 1990s and 2010.
On September 12, Sushila Karki, a former chief justice, was appointed interim prime minister until a new government is formed.
Oli, who leads the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), is once again in the fray. More than 3,400 candidates from 65 parties are contesting along with him, reported Reuters.
The Nepali Communist Party, led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, widely known as Prachanda, is also contesting the polls.
On the other hand, the three-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party has positioned the rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah as its prime ministerial candidate.
The 35-year-old former mayor of Kathmandu is contesting from the Jhapa-5 constituency, directly challenging Oli, who has won the seat six times.
The Nepali Congress has put forward 49-year-old Gagan Thapa as its prime ministerial candidate.
Also read:
Nepal: After Gen Z uprising, youth hope that elections will usher in a new, united politics
Nepal’s election is referendum on its future and democracy in South Asia
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