Nepal Election 2022: Nearly 61 percent voting was recorded in the election of members of the new parliament and provincial assemblies in Nepal. The election was completed amid sporadic incidents of violence and clashes during the polling. A 24-year-old youth died after being shot by the police during voting. Sporadic violence and clashes disrupted the polling process at several polling stations, sources said. Voting began at 7:00 a.m. local time at more than 22,000 polling stations across the country and ended at 5:00 p.m. local time.
Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapliyal told reporters, “About 61 percent polling has been done across the country. This figure is likely to increase slightly as we continue to receive details from districts across the country. He said, ‘It is certainly less than our expectation. Thapliyal said that the counting of votes will start from tonight itself in three districts of Kathmandu Valley and will be over within a week.
Voting took place for 275 seats in the federal parliament and 550 seats in the assembly.
Elections were held for 275 seats in the Federal Parliament and 550 seats in seven provincial assemblies in Nepal. Of the total 275 members of the Federal Parliament, 165 will be selected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 will be selected through the ‘proportional election system’. Similarly, out of a total of 550 members of the provincial assemblies, 330 will be directly elected, while 220 will be elected through the proportional system. Barring sporadic incidents of violence, the polling was largely peaceful.
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explosion at a polling station
A minor explosion occurred near the Sharda Secondary School polling booth in Dhangarhi sub-metropolitan town of Kailali district, officials said. There was no casualty during this. Voting resumed at the polling station after half an hour’s disruption due to the blast, he said. A few incidents of heated exchanges between workers of different parties were reported from 11 areas of Dhangarhi, Gorkha and Dolakha districts, but these did not affect the polling.
Distinguished people of Nepal also voted
Meanwhile, the country’s Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba voted in his home district Dadeldhura. Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) President and former Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli casts his vote at a polling station in Suryabinayak Municipality of Bhaktapur district near Kathmandu. Chairman of CPN-Maoist Center and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ cast his vote at a polling station in Bharatpur municipality of Chitwan district.
113 year old Maya Pokhrel also cast her vote
Meanwhile, 113-year-old Gopi Maya Pokharel exercised her franchise and became the oldest person to vote in the country. Pokharel cast his vote in Tanhun district, 220 km west of Kathmandu. Officials said that according to Pokhrel’s citizenship certificate, his date of birth is June 22, 1909. He cast his vote at the polling station at Mahadebata Primary School, Sepabgaicha, Bhanu municipality in Tanhun district. Similarly, 107-year-old Jasmani Kami cast her vote at a polling booth in the National Secondary School in Mayagarhi district.
Counting will be held amid tight security from Sunday night
Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapliyal said that the counting of votes would begin on Sunday night amid tight security. Thapliyal, after casting his vote at a polling station in Bhaktapur, said that after the polling is over, all the ballot boxes will be collected at the counting centers by 7 pm.
Nepali media quoted him as saying, “After this we will hold a meeting with all the parties for about an hour and we expect the counting of votes to begin in the night.” Thapliyal said that the commission will announce all the results of the elections in the next eight days, while the results of the proportional representation election system will be announced by December 8.
Possibility of formation of a hung government
Political observers closely following the elections have predicted a hung parliament and the formation of a government that will not be able to provide the political stability needed in Nepal. Parliament has been politically unstable since the end of nearly a decade of Maoist insurgency in Nepal, and no prime minister has completed a full term since the end of the civil war in 2006. Frequent changes in leadership and infighting between political parties are said to be the reason for the country’s slow economic development.
These challenges will be in front of the new government
There are two major political alliances in the fray – the democratic and leftist alliance led by the ruling Nepali Congress and the leftist, Hindu and pro-monarchy alliance led by the CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist). The next government will face the challenges of maintaining a stable political administration, reviving the tourism industry and balancing relations with its neighbours, China and India.
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