Millions of Nepalis headed to the polls Sunday for a historic election billed as a turning point for the Himalayan nation, hoping to end the ruinous instability that has plagued the country since the end of a bloody civil war a decade ago.
According to Election Commission Spokesperson Nawaraj Dhakal, the voting started at the scheduled time, reported The Kathmandu Post. The voting will continue until 5 pm today, he added. The election in the remaining districts has been slated for December 7.
The elections are the first under a new post-war constitution born out of a peace deal that ended the 10-year Maoist insurgency in 2006 and set the country on a path from monarchy to democracy.
It took nine years after the end of the conflict for the new charter to be agreed as a series of brittle coalition governments bickered over the country’s future as a federal democratic state..
A total of 702 candidates are in the fray in the first phase elections, while there are the total 3191945 voters. There are a total of 2,919 polling centers and 4,465 polling stations.
