Posted by: BathroomCoffee April 11, 2008
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Relief, pride in Nepal as counting starts after poll
By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU, April 11 (Reuters) - Porters carried ballot boxes on their backs along mountain paths high in the Himalayas on Friday, to trucks, tractors and helicopters waiting to take them to counting centres after Nepal's first election in nine years.
On the streets of the capital Kathmandu, relief was mixed with pride, after a historic election passed off in a remarkably peaceful manner on Thursday.
"Thank god it is over," said 36-year-old grocer Brikha Bahadur Thakuri. "No matter who wins I look forward to a period of no strikes, closures and unrest. I hope those days are over."
Nepalis voted enthusiastically for a 601-member special assembly supposed to write a new constitution and usher in a new republic in the Himalayas, ending a 240-year-old Hindu monarchy.
The vote was central to a 2006 peace deal with Maoist rebels and marks their transformation into a legitimate political party.
Men and women sat closed-legged among piles of ballot papers in counting centres in Kathmandu, guarded by armed police with automatic rifles. Running tallies were broadcast over loudspeakers to crowds outside, who cheered their favourites.
The centrist Nepali Congress won the first seat to be announced in the capital, and supporters took to the streets waving party flags. But Maoists were doing well in several others and their leader Prachanda was well ahead in his constituency.
The Election Commission said final results would take more than 10 days, with reruns called in 60 out of 20,000 centres.
Some ballot boxes were snatched or thrown into rivers, and ballot papers were stolen. Maoists are reported to have burnt down one polling station and some ballot boxes in western Nepal.
But the number of re-runs needed was still lower than at elections in 1999, when more than 100 centres had to vote again.
The assembly will be elected on a mixture of first past the post constituencies and proportional representation.
STUNNING THE WORLD
"Nepal stuns the world, itself," the Kathmandu Post announced in a banner headline.
The Nepali Times called it a referendum for peace, justice and development. "Doomsayers" who had predicted an election was impossible had been proved wrong, it said.
A candidate and a party worker were killed on election day, and 12 others lost their lives in campaign-related violence.
Much more violence was feared, with armed groups calling for a boycott of the polls in the southern plains bordering India. That appeal was largely ignored.
All eyes are now on whether political parties, especially the Maoists, accept the election outcome. There have been fears hardline Maoists could split from the party and take to the streets if their party performs poorly.
But a Western diplomat told Reuters the enthusiastic voter response and largely peaceful election would make it harder for losers to reject the results.
The United Nations appealed to political parties to accept the popular verdict, or take up any complaints legally.
Nepali politicians gained a reputation for squabbling and corruption during a decade of democratic rule in the 1990s, before an ill-fated and short-lived power grab by the monarchy.
Ordinary Nepalis, living in one of the world's poorest countries, said they hoped things would be better this time.
"We are not asking the government to build palaces for us," said 38-year-old travel agency worker Yagya Pandit.
"People need security, electricity, water, petrol and work. What is the use of political leaders if they can't give us these things?" (Editing by Simon Denyer and Jerry Norton)