Nepal to hold general election on Thursday, first after Gen Z protests

Voting will be held on Thursday for the general elections, the first one to be held after a Gen Z youth led protest toppled the K P Sharma Oli-led government in Nepal last year.

More than 18.9 million eligible Nepalese will exercise their franchise to elect 275 member House of Representatives (HoR) from among the 3,406 candidates vying for 165 seats under direct voting and 3,135 candidates vying for 110 seats through proportionate voting.

The election campaign concluded mid-night of Monday, March 2. The voting will start at 7 am on Thursday, March 5, and conclude at 5 pm.

Acting Chief election commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari told media persons on Wednesday, "This time the voting percentage will increase and the percentage of invalid ballot papers will also decline due to improved voter education launched by the commission."  He also sought cooperation from all sides to conduct the election successfully.

The Gen Z youth through their two-day intensified protests on September 8 and 9 overthrew Prime Minister Oli, chair of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified MarxistLeninist) -- CPN-UML -- who was heading a coalition government with the backing of Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two third majority support.

After Oli was forced to resign from the post, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 and appointed Sushila Karki as the caretaker PM.

The major issues raised by Gen Z are anti-corruption, good governance, end to nepotism, generational change in political leadership etc. CPN-UML led by Oli has emerged as the hardliner force. Though the Prachanda led NCP claims to have addressed the issues raised by the Gen Z, they have not handed over the party leadership to the younger generation.

Rastriya Swotantra Party (RSP) led by its chair Ravi Lamichhane and senior leader Balendra Shah and the reformed Nepali Congress led by Gagan Thapa are voicing for the issues raised by the Gen Z, while CPN-UML led by K P Oli and Nepali Communist Party led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' are known as the traditional forces.

Ujyalo Nepal Party led by Kulman Ghising and Shram Shakti Party led by former Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang are also known as the emerging forces but enjoy support in limited pockets only.

"Nepal' politics is sharply divided between those who want change and those who want to maintain status-quo, those who support the concerns raised by the Gen Z youths and the traditional political forces that do not prefer change," said a leader from the Gen Z group.

RSP has projected former Kathmandu Mayor Balen, 35, as its prime ministerial candidate while Nepali Congress has projected 49-year-old Thapa as its prime ministerial candidate. CPN-UML has projected its chair Oli, 75, as its PM face.

"People are tired of the traditional political forces due to rampant corruption, nepotism and lack of accountability, so this time they are likely to express their dissatisfaction towards the traditional big parties and the emerging new political parties are becoming attractive and catchy to them," opined Charan Prasai, senior human rights activist and political analyst.

Kathmandu's Balen has chosen Jhapa - 5 as his constituency for the March 5 election giving a tough fight to Oli, who had won the seat 6 times in the past.

Thapa, originally from Kathmandu, has also chosen Dhanusha -4 in Madhes Province to create an election wave in the southern plains of Nepal.

With Balen's growing popularity in Jhapa -5, Oli has been confined to his own constituency during the election campaign, to secure his position, instead of going to rest of the constituencies across the country to campaign for other candidates of the party.

Gagan Thapa of Nepali Congress and Balendra Shah of RSP had a good show during their election campaign in various parts of the country, mainly in the southern Nepal districts.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal appealed to all the voters to exercise their voting rights without worrying.

"The government has arranged full-proof security during the election, which will be conducted in a free, fair and fearless environment, thus I call upon voters to go for voting without any worry," he said talking to reporters at the Home Ministry.

Starting Wednesday, Nepal has declared a three-day holiday for the polls.

There are a total of 10,967 polling booths and 23,112 polling centres, the Election Commission data showed.

As many as 65 political parties are taking part in the election for contesting seats for direct voting while there would be 63 of them for proportionate voting.

Nepal has deployed tens of thousands of security personnel across the country with Nepal Army leading with 79,727 personnel, followed by Nepal Police (75,797) and Armed Police Force (34,576).

The National Investigation Department with 1,921 personnel and the temporary election police with 1,49,090 personnel also form part of the total 3,41,111 deployed for the conduct of elections, officials said.