Nepal

Maoists clinch early lead

Article published on the 2008-04-11 Latest update 2008-04-15 12:41 TU

Voting in Nepal, 10 April 2008.
(Photo : N. Vescovacci)

Nepal's Maoists are reported to be in the lead, after Nepal's election commission has counted one-third of the votes. The former guerrillas have so far taken 114 National Assembly seats. The results so far have surprised many pundits and observers.

According to the election commission, the Maoists have won 114 seats out of 208 allocated so far, putting them well ahead of all other parties. Nepal's second largest party, the Nepali Congress, is trailing behind with just 32 seats. The full poll results are expected around 20 April.

The Maoists claim to be "partially surprised" by the result.

"We knew we had good support from the people but we had not imagined the victory on this scale," said top party official Chandra Prakash Gajurel.

While the Maoists see a clear path to power after the election, he warned that internal strife could be a big challenge.

Earlier, Nepali newspapers declared that the country had stunned the world - and itself, with a polling day that was no more violent than any other day. And Ban Ki-Moon congratulated the country on the "generally orderly and peaceful atmosphere".

Just 33 of 21,000 polling booths had to be closed and three people were killed in the ethnically-tense south.