Nepal Is Ready To Vote in Historic CA Poll

By Hemraj Regmi

Voting will being at 7:00 in the morning on April 10 (tomorrow) for the much-awaited Constituent Assembly elections. All preparations have been complete for the election, said the Election Commission (EC). Election will not be held in constituency no. 1 of Surkhet district among the 240 constituencies in the country, as CPN-UML candidate in the constituency Rhishi Prasad Sharma was killed yesterday. There are 20, 810 polling centres in 9,793 places to hold the election simultaneously and voters entering latest by 5:00 pm in the polling centre will be able to exercise their voting rights. There are 3,937 candidates in the fray including women 326, independent women 42, party candidates male 2,795 and independent 774 in the election. Some 126, 000 staff and 108,000 volunteers are mobilized to manage the voting, the EC said.

This is the first election with two electoral systems- first past the post and proportional electoral system, and some 10,811,000 voters will exercise their rights. Of the total 74 parties registered in the EC, some 54 have given 5,701 candidates for the proportional electoral system. Some 130, 000 security personnel have been mobilized including Nepal Police, Armed Police and Temporary Police in the election, the Home Ministry said. This is the first time Nepalese people are voting in the CA to draft their own constitution.

On the occasion, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Bhojraj Pokhrel called on all to present an example in the world by holding the election peacefully and with patience. Former US President Jimmy Carter has already arrived in connection with election observation. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had in a message Tuesday said this was an opportunity to strengthen loktantra and to adopt human rights norms and values and a milestone for the Nepali people for moving ahead peace process. (Source:RSS)