National, March 7: Balendra Shah’s newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was heading towards a sweeping victory in Nepal’s first general elections since last year’s youth-led protests, delivering a major setback to the country’s established political parties.
According to the latest figures released by the Election Commission of Nepal on March 7, the RSP has already won 18 seats and is leading in 99 others. The elections are being closely watched by India, which hopes that the formation of a stable government in Nepal will help advance bilateral development cooperation.
“We look forward to working with the new Government of Nepal to further build on the robust and multifaceted ties between our two countries and peoples for mutual benefit,” said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, speaking in New Delhi earlier this week. He added that India has consistently supported peace, progress and stability in Nepal and had supplied logistical support for the elections at the request of the Nepali government.
Among the other major parties, the Nepali Congress has won four seats and is leading in 11 constituencies, while the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) has secured one seat and is ahead in 11 others. The Nepal Communist Party has won two seats and is leading in 10 constituencies, while the Shram Sanskriti Party is leading in three seats.
Nepal’s Parliament consists of 275 members, with 165 elected through direct voting and the remaining 110 chosen under a proportional representation system.
Around 18.9 million voters were eligible to participate in the elections to the House of Representatives of Nepal, with voter turnout reaching nearly 60 per cent during polling held on Thursday. Approximately 3,400 candidates contested the 165 seats under the direct voting system, while 3,135 candidates contested the 110 seats under the proportional representation system.
The elections were held in the aftermath of last year’s youth-led protests in September that forced then Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli to step down. Oli had been leading a coalition government backed by the Nepali Congress with nearly a two-thirds majority.
Following his resignation, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 and appointed Sushila Karki as the caretaker prime minister.
The protests, largely driven by young people, had raised concerns over corruption, poor governance, nepotism and the demand for generational change in the country’s political leadership.
