Nepal Maoists call for probe into Nov 19 assembly polls

Nepal's vanquished Maoists and 13 other disgruntled political parties today demanded a probe by the Election Commission into the alleged irregularities during the November 19 assembly elections.
In a memorandum submitted to the commission, Maoist supremo Prachanda said EC's suggestion that the Constituent Assembly Court will deal with poll irregularities was not acceptable.
"I urge the EC to not take our case so lightly," he said.
After suffering a humiliating defeat in a constituency in Kathmandu, where he finished third, Prachanda was elected from a seat in Siraha in southern Nepal by a margin of just 900 votes. Prachanda's daughter Renu Dahal also lost.

UCPN-Maoist got just 26 seats, finishing at a disappointing third place in the direct voting system in Constituent Assembly polls. Nepali Congress headed by Sushil Koirala emerged as the largest party with 105 seats followed by CPN-UML with 91 seats.
CPN-UML leader Pradeep Gyawali has said that there is no need to form special probe commission as there is the provision to look into such issues by forming a Constituent Assembly Court.

The EC maintained that there was a constitutional arrangement for addressing any issues related to the poll results.
"We just told them (leaders of disgruntled parties) that one can move the CA court if one is not satisfied with the poll results," Election Commissioner Dolakh Bahaur Gurung was quoted as saying by Republica newsportal.

The Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML have rejected Maoists' demand to amend the interim Constitution to include a provision of consensus to form the next government, saying the country cannot be held hostage to the vested interests of some political parties.
In response to today's demands, the election commissioners said that there was no provision for the EC reviewing the poll results. They further said that one should not raise any question over the impartiality and soundness of the CA election held on November 19.
"The EC has conducted the election in a free, fair and credible manner as per existing laws. If there were any weaknesses the commission will review them and make improvements in future elections," Gurung said.

The Maoists have been threatening to boycott the Constituent Assembly, alleging that massive scale of rigging was prevalent during the recently concluded polls.
The Nepali Congress is also leading the proportionate vote count with nearly 2.4 million votes followed by Jhalanath Khanal-led CPN-UML with 2.2 million votes and UCPN-Maoist with 1.4 million votes.
The counting of votes will lead to the formation of a 601-member Constituent Assembly, including 240 elected through direct voting.