Kathmandu, Nepal

In the elections for the federal parliament and provincial legislatures on Sunday, Nepal saw voter participation of almost 61 per cent. Intermittent violence and riots jeopardised the Nepalese elections. These incidents resulted in one death and other disruptions to the voting process. Over 22,000 polling places conducted voting, which opened at 7 am local time and ended at 5 pm. The voter turnout estimates are preliminary, and it is anticipated that the proportion will rise when data from around the nation is tallied.

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Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya said, "The nationwide voter turnout has stood at around 61 per cent. This is likely to increase slightly as we continue receiving details from districts across the country. This is certainly less than what we had expected."

Compared to the last two elections, which were held in 2013, and 2017, where 78 percent of voters turned out, the voter turnout is much lower.

Quick facts

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First-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system (In this voting method, the candidate with the highest number of votes in a constituency is declared the winner) will be used to fill 165 of the 275 seats in the federal parliament, while a proportional representation method will be used to fill the other 110 seats (PR).

There will be direct elections for 330 seats in total, with proportional representation used to fill the remaining 220 seats in the seven provincial legislatures.

A party must win at least one seat in the federal parliament under the FPTP system and at least 3 per cent of the vote share in order to be recognised as a national party and secure seats under PR. Despite worries about rioting, poor administration, and potential manipulation, the Election Commission chose to hold a single-day election as it considered it to be practical and cost-effective. 

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WATCH | Nepal goes to polls amid political instability

After the country's democratic transition in 1990, there have been 32 administrations in Nepal, and in the 14 years since the monarchy was overthrown in 2008, there have been 10 governments. At that time, the nation's leaders collectively pledged to create a "stable government, consolidate democracy, promote economic growth, and ensure governance free from corruption." Few people anticipate that Sunday's election will result in long-term political stability since they are completely discredited.

Current political situation

There is the ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's Nepali Congress (NC), which consists of Madhav Kumar Nepal's Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Socialist and Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-MC) (CPN-US).

The Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), led by former prime minister K P Sharma Oli, aspires to retake office following the election.

In a dozen seats, the UML has joined forces with the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). Under the FPTP system, more than 150 seats are up for election by the monarchist and Hindu nationalist RPP.

Smaller Terai parties have joined forces with the two big coalitions, more so in an effort to gain influence than to pursue the greater autonomy they had previously pushed for. Around 1,200 independents are running for the federal parliament as a show of discontent with the national parties, corruption, and lack of accountability.

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After a string of defeats, divisions, and uprisings during Oli's administration—which was elected with a close to two-thirds majority in 2017—Deuba was appointed prime minister in July 2021. President Bidya Devi Bhandari supported Oli's attempt to hold onto power by dissolving the House twice, but the Supreme Court ruled that both dissolutions were illegal and ordered the President to swear in Deuba.

Oli has regularly criticised the court as political and stated that, if elected, he would use the Prime Minister's prerogative to re-apply for a mandate whenever he saw fit.

Although there does not appear to be any internal resistance to Oli's leadership, Deuba confronts a number of rivals inside the Nepali Congress, notably Gagan Thapa, the general secretary, who has put a claim to the role of prime minister in the event that the coalition wins back power.

Deuba (76) has served as prime minister five times; Oli and Prachanda have each done so once. Rifts within their parties or alliances always resulted in the end of their terms.

Violence during voting

The elections, according to the Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal, Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, were mainly peaceful with only a few sporadic incidents. These incidences led to the postponement of voting at 15 polling places across four districts.

According to Thapaliya, the vote-counting process started in the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday night and will be finished in a week.

At Nateshwari Basic School of Tribeni Municipality in Bajura, there was one fatality from gunfire at a polling place. Following a fight between two groups, after the vote was completed, the 24-year-old male was fatally shot by police, according to authorities.

In Kailali district's Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan City, a small explosion occurred close to a polling location for Sharda Secondary School. Officials said that no one was hurt and that the event only caused a short stoppage of 30 minutes in the voting process at the polling place.

In 11 locations in the Dhangadi, Gorkha, and Dolakha districts, there have been a few instances of festering disputes amongst party cadres. They claimed that it had no impact on the polling.

Core issues and road ahead

Political parties and their leaders are now more defamed than ever because to Nepal's instability, lack of government accountability, and extreme levels of corruption. Nepal's economic prospects have been harmed by the decline in governmental authority and growing mistrust of the judiciary - the Chief Justice is still suspended. Approximately 500,000 young people depart the nation each year to work as labourers in the Gulf, and more than a hundred of them pass away each month, according to government statistics. Young people have not been given much optimism by political promises to quadruple or double the GDP.

Parties have found it simple to lay the blame for Nepal's issues and instability on the monarchy. But once the monarchy was abolished, nothing changed.

(With inputs from agencies)

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