Maoists three seats away from majority

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 16 April: Maoists are thee swears away from majority in the direct elections for 240 seats of constituent assembly and have secured 118 seats so far.
They will easily get the majority with results in other districts still to come in.
They are leading in vote counting for indirect elections in which CPM (Maoist) have collected 30 percent plus votes.
Congress, CPN-UML, Madesh Janaaadhikar Forum and Tarai Madesh Loktantric Party have gathered 33, 30, 23 and seven seats so far.
Nepal Majdoor Kishan Party, Sadbavana and independents have secured two seats eash while Janamorcha Nepal has got one seat.
Re-polling is being held in several booths in Rautahat and Mohottari Wednesday after irregularities in elections on 10 April.
CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal is submitting the party’s collective resignation from government to Prime MInister Girija Prasad Koirala later Wednesday, party mouthpiece Budhabar said.
Uncertainly but calm prevails with an imminent takeover of government by Maoists; Koirala, with the backing of India, USA and EU helped deliver Singha Durbar to Maoists.
A stunned Congress hasn’t yet issued an official reaction to its defeat at the hands of Maoists but several members have demanded withdrawal from government.
Maoists will be in power for at least two and half years—the time allotted for drafting the constitution; another election has to be held only after the constitution is drafted.
Share prices tumbled 26 points after the uncertainty following the Maoist victory. A senior Nepal Army Officer said Tuesday the army will follow any order of an elected government.
State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack was silent Sunday on working with a government possibly led Maoists as the majority party in the constituent assembly, Bhola B Rana reported for People’s News.
The statement made no mention of working with a future successor government of PM Girija Prasad Koirala.
The statement only talked of constitution drafting and a document that reflects the will of the people.
"We look forward to the formation of an assembly that reflects the will of the Nepali people, ready to begin the important work of framing a constitution that addresses their needs," McCormack said..
He said there was ‘considerable violence and intimidation during the pre-election period, and some instances of voting irregularities on election day" and added ‘voters were able to cast their ballots peacefully in most districts’.
United States urges patience and nonviolent observance of the democratic process, he added.
The result is a setback for US diplomacy in Nepal.
An embassy statement earlier asked all sides to respect the election result.
Maoists have staked a claim to form a government following their victory in election.
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