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Slow start to voting in Nepal
Nepalis have begun voting in their first elections in seven years in polls dubbed a sham and boycotted by the main political parties and Maoist rebels.
Guerrillas bombed government buildings in at least three cities overnight. There were no injuries, witnesses said.
Wednesday's municipal elections are for about 600 seats. In more than 2200 seats voting has been delayed or cancelled because no one has dared to stand.
Voting started at 8am (0215 GMT) at centres guarded by soldiers. But voting was slow. At one of the biggest polling centres, Basantapur in Kathmandu, only one voter had cast his ballot within the first half hour.
The authorities insist that adequate security is in place.
Kamal Thapa, the interior minister, said: "The government has made enough arrangements for effective security and, if necessary, security forces have been ordered to use final force."
Many candidates had been gathered into government "safe houses" before the poll.
Political gloss
Critics say the elections are aimed at giving a veneer of legitimacy to the rule of King Gyanendra, who seized total power and sacked the government a year ago.
National elections scheduled for late 2002 were delayed because of the Maoist revolt, triggering a political crisis and a string of administrations appointed by the king.
The rebels have called a national strike. On the eve of the vote, Prachanda, the Maoist leader, issued a final boycott call.
"We make a final and special appeal to people to boycott the election," he said.
"Imperialists are on the verge of defeat and the people are at the dawn of a democratic republic."
Nine people have been killed since Monday, and more than 13,000 people since the Maoists launched their revolution in February 1996. The revolt has shattered the economy, dependent on aid and tourism, in one of the world's poorest countries.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BB1EA83D-EC17-48E3-8228-6ED3DA1A5F8A.htm
Wednesday's municipal elections are for about 600 seats. In more than 2200 seats voting has been delayed or cancelled because no one has dared to stand.
Voting started at 8am (0215 GMT) at centres guarded by soldiers. But voting was slow. At one of the biggest polling centres, Basantapur in Kathmandu, only one voter had cast his ballot within the first half hour.
The authorities insist that adequate security is in place.
Kamal Thapa, the interior minister, said: "The government has made enough arrangements for effective security and, if necessary, security forces have been ordered to use final force."
Many candidates had been gathered into government "safe houses" before the poll.
Political gloss
Critics say the elections are aimed at giving a veneer of legitimacy to the rule of King Gyanendra, who seized total power and sacked the government a year ago.
National elections scheduled for late 2002 were delayed because of the Maoist revolt, triggering a political crisis and a string of administrations appointed by the king.
The rebels have called a national strike. On the eve of the vote, Prachanda, the Maoist leader, issued a final boycott call.
"We make a final and special appeal to people to boycott the election," he said.
"Imperialists are on the verge of defeat and the people are at the dawn of a democratic republic."
Nine people have been killed since Monday, and more than 13,000 people since the Maoists launched their revolution in February 1996. The revolt has shattered the economy, dependent on aid and tourism, in one of the world's poorest countries.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BB1EA83D-EC17-48E3-8228-6ED3DA1A5F8A.htm
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Very few people have turned up at the polling stations in the early hours of voting, reports say.
The king says the vote will precede long-overdue general elections he has promised to hold by April 2007.
All the main opposition parties are boycotting the vote. They and Maoist rebels say the elections are a sham.
A quarter of 4,000 seats have no-one standing at all after rebels threatened candidates. Soldiers have been told to shoot anyone trying to disrupt voting.
Correspondents say voter participation has been badly affected by the opposition boycott and security concerns caused by the rebel threats.
The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu, who visited a school polling station in the capital found three voters in the first quarter hour of polling, outnumbered by security forces.
"I am voting because we need new leaders and the other politicians messed things up," a man who had queued up to cast his ballot said.
Most observers say anything approaching a free and fair election in Nepal is impossible, given the current security situation.
No foreign or domestic group is expected to monitor Wednesday's poll, after the government told the election commission monitors were not necessary.
Candidate fears
The rebels have ordered a week-long nationwide shutdown to disrupt the elections. They have warned of violent reprisals against anyone breaking the strike or participating in Wednesday's polls.
Violence has risen sharply since the rebels called off a four-month ceasefire in early January.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4691110.stm