Nepal’s electoral commission has announced the official results of the election for the second constituent assembly: The social democratic party Nepali Congress (NC) received 196 seats. This made it the strongest party in parliament, but did not achieve an absolute majority of 301 seats. The KP Nepals (United Marxists-Leninists) followed in second place with 175 and in third place the United KP Nepals (Maoists) with 80 seats. Independent election observers have described the elections as free and fair.
The Constituent Assembly acted as parliament and set up a new government. On February 10, 2014, Sushil Koirala, President of the Nepali Congress (NC), was elected Prime Minister by a large majority of the members of the Constituent Assembly.
Federal structural reform and local elections
On May 14, 2017, local elections were held in Nepal for the first time in 20 years. Many people are hoping for a fundamental democratic development in the country and an improvement in their living conditions.
As part of the preparations for the local elections, the government decided to set the number of municipal units at 744 and passed this number on to the National Electoral Commission. The 744 municipalities newly formed within the framework of the federal structural reform are each receiving 10 million rupees financially. The money is to be used to make the city and local councils to be newly formed following local elections functional. This implements recommendations that had previously been drawn up by the Commission for Municipal Restructuring.
In the course of structural reform local government units newly formed close four cities, 13 cities, 246 towns and 481 village councils (Village Councils a). The village councils are administratively subdivided at the local level into 6680 wards with their own local councils.
In the first round of local elections on May 14, more than 50,000 candidates ran for a good 13,500 seats in the capital Kathmandu and several districts of the three provinces (provinces 3, 4 and 6). The first part of the local elections in 33 of 75 districts had been largely peaceful, with a turnout of 73 percent.
The second round (election in provinces 1, 5 and 7) took place on June 28th. More than 60,000 candidates competed. Approximately 6.4 million people were eligible to vote in the 35 districts. The turnout was 70.5%.
The third round of local elections took place in Province 2 on September 18. More than 6,000 candidates competed. 2.6 million people were eligible to vote. The turnout was over 70%.
The vote count showed that the CPN-UML won in most districts, followed by the Nepali Congress.
Parliamentary and provincial elections
In the parliamentary and provincial elections held in November and December 2017, the United Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (CPN-UML) and its ally, the Communist-Maoist Center Party (CPN-MC), received 121 and 53 seats respectively in the House of Commons, which over 275 seats. In contrast, in the strongest party to date, the Nepali Congress (NC), many politicians failed to get back into parliament. In the southern province No. 2, two parties representing the Madhesi minority received a parliamentary majority. The left Communist alliance strengthened its position by gaining a two-thirds majority in the Senate. The CPN-UML and the CPN-MC won 27 and 12 seats, respectively, out of a total of 59.
After the overwhelming victory of the left alliance of the leader of the CPN-UML has Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, the Office of the Prime Minister of Nepal as the successor of Sher Bahadur Deuba begun.
According to payhelpcenter, the constitutional rules and the new majority structure make it likely that, unlike in the past, Nepal will be governed by prime ministers who will remain in office for several years. Following the successful elections, people’s representatives elected at the municipal, provincial and federal levels are now in the process of controlling the executive.
Peace process
The comprehensive peace agreement signed in November 2006 declares that the remaining soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) should be integrated into the state’s security forces – the army, police or armed police forces. By then there were around 20,000 Maoist fighters (including 4,000 women, 3,000 children and young people) in the assembly camps. The PLA cadres have formally been placed under the orders of the special committee for the integration of the army.
Under time pressure, the four big parties concluded an agreement at the beginning of November 2011 that should point the way out of the political crisis. According to the agreement, the UCPN-M agreed to surrender all weapons in its possession, return land confiscated during the war and dismantle the paramilitary structure of its youth league. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a committee to investigate ” forced disappearances ” should be set up within a month.
According to the agreement, 6500 of the almost 20,000 fighters of the former People’s Liberation Army are to be accepted into a special unit for development tasks. This force is to be used, for example, in forest protection and crisis management. For the rest of the Maoist fighters there is a reintegration package that includes school and professional training, job offers or financial compensation. Finally, a team of experts was immediately formed to prepare recommendations for the constitutional text. On April 10, 2012, the Nepalese army took control of the 15 camps of the People’s Army, along with their weapons and fighters.
