Nepal's CPN-UML emerges largest party in historical polls

Nepal's CPN-UML emerged as the largest party in the Himalayan nation as vote counting of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) for Parliament and provincial assembly elections in Nepal came to an end on Wednesday, the Election Commission said.

The Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist was able to secure 80 out of the total 165 seats under the FPTP category of the Parliament. The party garnered 166 out of 330 seats in provincial assembly polls, the Kathmandu Post reported.

The CPN (Maoist Centre) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" became the second largest party by winning 36 seats in Parliament and 73 seats in provincial assembly under the FPTP category.

The Nepali Congress (NC), which was the largest party in the last election, managed to win 23 seats in Parliament and was elected in 45 provincial constituencies, said the Election Commission.

It became the third largest party this time.

Though the Election Commission announced the final outcomes of the federal and provincial assembly elections on Wednesday, vote counting for the proportionate representation category was still underway.

Navaraj Dhakal, a spokesman for Nepal's Election Commission, told Xinhua news agency that the vote counting for the proportionate representation category was also coming to an end and the results will be made public soon.

The CPN-UML took a clear lead in the proportionate representation category as well, according to the results made public so far.

Nepal held the two-phased state and federal elections last week under the new Constitution promulgated in 2015.

The second phase of the parliamentary and provincial assembly elections was held on December 7 while the first phase was held on November 26 with the aim to restore democracy in the country hit by a decade-long civil war that ended in 2006 and years of instability after the monarchy was abolished in 2008.

The historical elections are seen as a crucial step to implement the new Constitution which saw strong protests from some Madhesi ethnic groups in Nepal's Terai region bordering India.

After a hiatus of 20 years, local elections were held earlier this year choosing local bodies across the country.

--IANS

soni/bg