Nepal’s troubled south yesterday began voting in the first local elections for two decades, a key stage in the nation’s post-war transformation from a feudal monarchy to a federal democracy.
The elections began last month in other parts of the nation, but were repeatedly delayed in the southern plains, which were hit by deadly protests two years ago.
The Madhesi ethnic minority say federal boundaries set by a new national constitution will leave them underrepresented in parliament.
Photo: AFP
More than 60,000 candidates were competing in yesterday polls, which cover about half the country and are intended to fill an institutional vacuum that has seen corruption flourish.
The last local representatives were elected in 1997 and their mandates lapsed when their five-year terms expired at the height of the 1996 to 2006 Maoist insurgency.
“We expect good governance, an end to corruption and acceleration of development projects,” said 63-year-old Rajya Prasad Limbu, a community leader, after he cast his vote.
Voting began peacefully in southern Nepal, where the government has stepped up security, deploying troops and sealing the border with India.
More than 50 people died in 2015 when the Madhesi and Tharu ethnic minorities took to the streets.
Most of the victims were shot when police fired into crowds of demonstrators — a response condemned by rights campaigners — and tensions persist.
The Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal, the main party representing the Madhesi community, has said it will boycott yesterday’s phase, raising doubts about the legitimacy of the vote and fears of a resurgence of violence.
The local elections are supposed to be the final step in a peace deal that ended the civil war in 2006.
Since then, the country has been hampered by persistent instability, cycling through nine governments in a decade.
The local elections will pave the way for provincial polls and then national elections. These must be held by January next year when the mandate of the current parliament expires.
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