NEPAL - NEPALI VOTERS GO TO THE POLLS AMID SECURITY CLAMPDOWN AND WORRIES OF INSTABILITY
Record ID:
328613
NEPAL - NEPALI VOTERS GO TO THE POLLS AMID SECURITY CLAMPDOWN AND WORRIES OF INSTABILITY
- Title: NEPAL - NEPALI VOTERS GO TO THE POLLS AMID SECURITY CLAMPDOWN AND WORRIES OF INSTABILITY
- Date: 15th November 1994
- Summary: KATHMANDU, NEPAL (NOVEMBER 15, 1994) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV PEOPLE VOTING/SV WOMAN PUTTING BALLOT PAPER IN VOTING BOX (2 SHOTS) 0.08 2. GV/PAN EXT. CROWDS OF PEOPLE GATHERED TO VOTE (4 SHOTS) 0.30 3. SV COMMUNIST PARTY LEADER MAN MOHAN ADHIKARY VOTING (2 SHOTS) 0.36 4. MCU ADHIKARY SAYING "THE ELECTION IS GOING SMOOTHLY, BUT THERE MAY BE COMPROMISES." (NEPALI)/ZOOM OUT TO SV (3 SHOTS) 0.44 5. SV CHILD WITH SYMBOL OF COMMUNIST PARTY (SUN) ON SHIRT 0.48 6. SV BOY WITH SYMBOL OF ROYALIST PARTY (PLOUGH) ON SHIRT 0.53 7. SV TWO BOYS WITH SYMBOLS OF CONGRESS PARTY (TREE) ON SHIRTS 0.59 8. LV/SV INDEPENDENT ELECTION OBSERVERS (2 SHOTS) 1.13 9. SV/PAN HEAD OF RULING NEPALI CONGRESS PARTY KRISHNA PRASAD BHATTARAI VOTING (2 SHOTS) 1.20 10. GV PEOPLE VOTING 1.24 11. SV BHATTARAI CASTS VOTE IN BALLOT BOX 1.31 12. MCU BHATTARAI SAYING "THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF OUR VICTORY BY TOMORROW, YOU WILL HEAR THE NEWS. IT IS SILENT NOW." (ENGLISH) 1.48 13. GV BHATTARAI WALKING PAST PEOPLE CUEING TO VOTE 1.53 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 30th November 1994 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KATHMANDU, NEPAL
- City:
- Country: Nepal
- Reuters ID: LVA2OYT8V4XSJSQZ0KDAJ7IW1AO4
- Story Text: Nepali voters went to the polls on Tuesday (November 15) to choose a new parliament amid a security clampdown and worries that the Himalayan kingdom is entering a period of instability only four years after embracing democracy.
Thousands of security troops fanned out to head off violence in the impoverished nation's second free election since a pro-democracy revolt ended absolute monarchy in 1990.
The 35,000-man army was on alert and more than 1,000 election observers were posted in 205 constituencies stretching from southern plains to the world's highest peaks.
The chief election commissioner, Bishnu Pratap Shah, appealed to political parties and their supporters to avoid disrupting the polls but assured voters they were safe.
At least six people died in pre-election clashes and there were reports of dozens of arrests in the eastern part of the nation only hours before polls were due to open.
Voters in the mountain ringed capital, Kathmandu, began queueing up at 6 a.m. local time, two hours before the polls opened, with men and women waiting in separate lines.
Authorities banned all vehicles from the streets of the capital Kathmandu except those of diplomats, journalists and election observers.
A total of 12.3 million people were eligible to vote for 1,057 candidates from 24 parties. An accurate picture of election results was not expected for at least two days.
In remote mountain regions, porters will take two to three days to carry ballots to low-lying districts to be counted.
The snap poll was called 18 months ahead of regular elections because Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala lost a crucial parliamentary vote in July when three dozen of his Congress Party deputies abandoned him.
The dissidents accused Koirala of corruption, high-handedness and conspiring to sideline challengers.
Many political observers and diplomats said Congress, which held 114 seats in the outgoing parliament, would be hard pressed to win a majority this time.
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