Nepal votes in poll coloured by downturn and discontent
Kathmandu, Nepal - Nepali voters cast their ballots for a new parliament on Sunday in a con
test dominated by public frustrations over the Himalayan republic’s elderly political elite and anxiety over its teetering economy.
A revolving door of prime ministers - most serving less than a year - and a culture of horse-trading have fuelled perceptions the government is out of touch with Nepal’s pressing problems.
Several younger faces are contesting for the first time, up against established parties whose leaders have strode the corridors of power for decades.
Though analysts expect Nepal’s entrenched political veterans to again dominate the next assembly, many voters have lost faith in the status quo and a mood for change is palpable.
“Every party took turns in government over the past five years and they did nothing,” Chiranjibi Dawadi, a driver by trade, told AFP. “My family has decided to
vote for a new party this time. It’s OK even if they don’t look after
us. Old parties didn’t either.”
Sunday’s elections are the second since a new constitution was promulgated in 2015, ushering in a new political order after the conclusion of Nepal’s traumatic Maoist insurgency.
The civil war ended in 2006, having claimed more than 17,000 lives and prompting the abolition of the country’s monarchy, while also bringing the former rebels into the government fold. Since then the former guerrillas have alternated in power with another communist party and the established Congress in various coalitions.
But political instability has
been a recurrent feature of
Nepal’s parliament, and no prime minister has served a full term since the war ended. A constant balancing act has left governments of different stripes struggling to navigate the traditional rivalry between Nepal’s two neighbours, China and India, at a time of rising Western concern with Chinese-funded mega-projects in the country.
Incumbent premier Sher Bahadur Deuba, 76, is serving in the role for the fifth time. The two
other main party leaders are 70 and 67 and have both held office
as prime minister twice.