Kathmandu - Voting ended peacefully Friday in by-elections
to fill six vacant seats in Nepal's Constituent Assembly in contests
seen as a test of the Maoists' popularity.
Just more than 444,000 citizens were eligible to cast their
ballots, deciding who among 139 candidates, including 10 women, would
become members of the assembly, which is Nepal's interim legislature
and has also been tasked with drafting a new constitution.
Nepal's Election Commission said there was moderate turnout of
voters in all six constituencies and the preliminary turnout had been
put at around 50 per cent.
'The voting was generally peaceful and went ahead without
problems,' the Election Commission said. 'We expect all the results
to come in by Saturday evening.'
Election officials said polling stations opened at 8 am (0345 GMT)
in five districts in western and eastern Nepal and were open for nine
hours.
The seats fell vacant after politicians who contested and won two
constituencies in last year's elections were asked to give up one of
their seats.
A constituency in Dhanusha district fell vacant after Ram Baran
Yadav vacated his seat after he was elected president.
For the first time in Nepal, all 490 polling stations in the six
constituencies used electronic voting machines.
There are speculations that the voter turnout was lower than
in previous elections as citizenship certificates were mandatory for
identification and many voters were unaware about the new provisions.
Voting took place in Rolpa, Kaski and Kanchanpur in western
Nepal, two constituencies in the Morang district and one in the
Dhanusha district in eastern Nepal.
Security was tight in all constituencies with hundreds of extra
security personnel deployed, the government said.
International borders with India were also sealed to prevent
cross-border crime during voting.
The election is seen as a test of Maoist popularity since the
former revolutionaries formed a coalition government last year.
The Maoists emerged as the single largest party in the 601-member
assembly after elections in April 2008, two years after giving up
their armed insurgency.
The Maoists have, however, come under growing criticism from
members of their coalition as well as the opposition Nepali Congress
who accuse them of continuing violence, intimidation and extortion.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story