Nominations on for Nepal's Constituent Assembly polls

Nominees of Nepal's political parties and Independent candidates Thursday thronged district electoral offices across the country to file nomination papers for the Nov 19 Constituent Assembly elections, the Election Commission (EC) said.

Party leaders as well as scores of independent candidates were registering their candidature since morning amid tight security in the 240 poll constituencies for the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral exercise, Xinhua reported.

Candidates, along with hundreds of their supporters, lined up at the respective district offices of the EC to register their names for the forthcoming polls to elect the Constituent Assembly that will write the county's new constitution.

The deadline for filing candidature is 5 p.m.

Three major political parties -- United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist), Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) -- are putting up candidates in all 240 constituencies, while some regional parties -- like the Madhes-based Nepal Sadbhavana Party and the Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal -- have decided to file nominations only in some districts.

Altogether, 124 political parties have announced their participation in the Nov 19 elections.

HOwever, the CPN-Maoist, a breakaway faction of the United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) and heading a 33-party alliance, has announced a boycott of the CA polls and has demanded postponement of the Nov 19 elections.

The Nepal government has decided to mobilise the Nepal Army for security during the polls in the wake of the CPN-Maoist threat to obstruct the elections.