by Kalpit Parajuli

Only a few incidents at a handful of polls, but at least four are dead. Tallying the votes will take more than 10 days. Maoists defeated in the first round.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - Orderly elections, almost without incident, have been held in Nepal, to elect the constituent assembly that will be charged with rewriting the constitution.  At least 10 days will be required to get the results, but the initial calculations show a defeat for the Maoists.

In Katmandu's first constituency, tentative results indicate a victory for the candidate of the Nepali Congress party, with more than 14,000 votes.  He is followed by the candidate for the united Marxist-Leninist party, with more than 6,000 votes, with the Maoist communist party in third place, with 4,000 votes.  These three groups are expected to win the great majority of the seats.  It is the first time the Maoists have participated in the electoral process, after more than 10 years of civil war: one significant unknown factor is whether they will accept an eventual defeat.

This is the only constituency in which electronic voting machines were used, which meant that the results were immediate.  The ballot boxes are now being brought to the headquarters of their respective districts - some of them on muleback - where the tallying will take place.  This will be watched by 63,000 "domestic" observers, and 856 observers from 28 international organisations.

601 seats are in play, 240 of which will be assigned to those who receive the most votes in the constituencies, and 335 according to the proportional system. 9,648 candidates from 54 parties are competing.

Political analyst Khagendra Sangraula observes that "They come from such diverse backgrounds, it will be extremely hard for the 601 members to agree".

Voting was orderly at almost all of the 20,889 polls, with 17,609,895 voters (60% participation), and  serious incidents in only 33 sections.  The national electoral commission has confirmed the nullification of the voting in 12 sections, which are thought to have been "overseen" by Maoists who prevented the supporters of other parties from voting.  Precisely in order to prevent such incidents, the voting took place under the tight control of 135,000 policemen and soldiers.  It is said that at least four died in the southeastern region: in the district of Sunsari, the supporter of a minor party was stabbed to death during a politically motivated fight.

• Nepal
• voting
• elections
• campaign
• constitution
• violence
• Maoists
• civil
• war