Nepal Parliamentary Elections: Communist Alliance Heading Towards Victory

The left-wing alliance of Communist Parties of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) and the Maoist Center (CPN-MC) are leading in the general elections held on Thursday. According to reports, the coalition of communist parties formed in October has so far taken a two-thirds lead in the initial vote count.

The election, aimed at completing a transition to democracy after the abolition of the monarchy and end to civil war, is a first under the new republican constitution approved in 2015.

Guna Raj Luintel, the editor of Nagarik, said it was almost certain the leftist alliance would win. “Trends so far suggest they could win a two-thirds majority. If that happened, that will be a landslide win,” Luintel said.

The communist coalition was a shock for the Nepali Congress party led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. The Congress, considered to be pro-India, is in a loose alliance with the Madhesi parties from Nepal’s southern plains and former royalists.

The historic agreement between the two communist parties was formed to undermine the Nepalese Congress, which previously led a government coalition, according to reports.

Six seats have been secured by the CPN-UML, which leads the count by another 52, while the CPN-MC has achieved one and leads in another 21. The election was held in two phases - November 26 and December 7- and will determine the 275 members of the national lower house and 650 seats of the seven provincial parliaments.

In 2006, Nepal ended its 239 years of Hindu monarchy rule after huge political agitations and protests against the direct and undemocratic rule of King Gyanendra. The transition to democracy had been slow with Nepal witnessing 10 prime ministers in the past 11 years.

In July this year, the CPN-UML had gained massive victory in the second phase of local elections. Those local elections, first in the Himalayan nation since 1997 was ‘an attempt by the government to restore democracy after a long-running Maoist uprising’ followed by a year-long delay in passing a new constitution.

"The elections results show the success of the party's central command," political analyst Puranjan Acharya told the Kathmandu Post at the time.