KATHMANDU: A crude bomb exploded early on election day in Nepal on Tuesday, injuring three children as millions turned out for a poll seen as crucial in stabilising the Himalayan country after a civil war.
The explosive planted in a middle-class residential neighbourhood in the capital Kathmandu went off three hours after polling stations opened, with another five hoax bombs recovered by police on Monday.
I was passing by when I saw three children lying on the ground, crying for help, 28-year-old eyewitness Saroj Maharjan told AFP at the scene, where voters said they were now terrified.
One of the children, whose face was covered in blood, fainted in my arms as I carried him to a nearby hospital, he added.
A splinter faction of the Maoist party has vowed to disrupt the poll which many hope will jumpstart the peace process and push lawmakers to write a long-awaited constitution.
Anti-poll protestors have torched vehicles and hurled explosives at traffic in recent days, but election officials said the threats had not deterred millions from turning up to vote.
So far, around 50 percent of registered voters have voted, Election Commission spokesman Bir Bahadur Rai told AFP by midafternoon.
The elderly as well as people living in remote parts of the country have voted. The overall mood is buoyant, he said.
The Maoist party, led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known better by his nom-de-guerre Prachanda, swept the first constituent assembly polls in 2008, two years after signing a peace deal.
Since then, five prime ministers have served brief terms, the country had no leader for long periods, and the 601-member assembly collapsed in May 2012 after failing to agree on a new constitution.
Hopes of political reconciliation were dashed when a 33-party alliance, led by the splinter Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), announced that it would boycott the polls and intimidate voters.
The alliance says the vote cannot be held under the interim administration headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court and want polls to be postponed until a cross-party government is put in place.
Had the anti-poll groups organised peaceful protests, they could have questioned the legitimacy of the elections, Akhilesh Upadhyay, editor in chief of The Kathmandu Post, told AFP.
How can they gain political traction while even children have been brutally attacked?
One person has been killed and more than 360 arrested over the last week, police say.
Security has been tightened across the country as a result, with the government deploying 50,000 soldiers and 140,000 police to guard polling stations.
Measures include a ban on all public and most private transport, meaning that nearly all voters had to walk to polling stations to cast their ballot.
Centenarian Lal Bahadur Rai was the first person to vote at a polling station in northeastern Sankhuwasabha District.
My vote is for the future of youngsters and the new generations, the 101-year-old told AFP in a phone interview after casting his ballot.
The political deadlock has had a severe impact on the economy, with annual GDP growth tumbling from 6.1 percent in 2008 to 4.6 percent last year, World Bank figures show.
With 39 percent of the country aged between 16 and 40, according to government data, jobs are a major issue for young first-time voters like Urmila Maharjan.
The 22-year-old Kathmandu-based student told AFP she hoped the new assembly will address issues like unemployment.
Organising the election has been a logistical headache in a country home to eight of the worlds 14 highest mountains, requiring helicopters, horses and porters to deliver ballot boxes to remote areas. afp
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
The explosive planted in a middle-class residential neighbourhood in the capital Kathmandu went off three hours after polling stations opened, with another five hoax bombs recovered by police on Monday.
I was passing by when I saw three children lying on the ground, crying for help, 28-year-old eyewitness Saroj Maharjan told AFP at the scene, where voters said they were now terrified.
One of the children, whose face was covered in blood, fainted in my arms as I carried him to a nearby hospital, he added.
A splinter faction of the Maoist party has vowed to disrupt the poll which many hope will jumpstart the peace process and push lawmakers to write a long-awaited constitution.
Anti-poll protestors have torched vehicles and hurled explosives at traffic in recent days, but election officials said the threats had not deterred millions from turning up to vote.
So far, around 50 percent of registered voters have voted, Election Commission spokesman Bir Bahadur Rai told AFP by midafternoon.
The elderly as well as people living in remote parts of the country have voted. The overall mood is buoyant, he said.
The Maoist party, led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known better by his nom-de-guerre Prachanda, swept the first constituent assembly polls in 2008, two years after signing a peace deal.
Since then, five prime ministers have served brief terms, the country had no leader for long periods, and the 601-member assembly collapsed in May 2012 after failing to agree on a new constitution.
Hopes of political reconciliation were dashed when a 33-party alliance, led by the splinter Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), announced that it would boycott the polls and intimidate voters.
The alliance says the vote cannot be held under the interim administration headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court and want polls to be postponed until a cross-party government is put in place.
Had the anti-poll groups organised peaceful protests, they could have questioned the legitimacy of the elections, Akhilesh Upadhyay, editor in chief of The Kathmandu Post, told AFP.
How can they gain political traction while even children have been brutally attacked?
One person has been killed and more than 360 arrested over the last week, police say.
Security has been tightened across the country as a result, with the government deploying 50,000 soldiers and 140,000 police to guard polling stations.
Measures include a ban on all public and most private transport, meaning that nearly all voters had to walk to polling stations to cast their ballot.
Centenarian Lal Bahadur Rai was the first person to vote at a polling station in northeastern Sankhuwasabha District.
My vote is for the future of youngsters and the new generations, the 101-year-old told AFP in a phone interview after casting his ballot.
The political deadlock has had a severe impact on the economy, with annual GDP growth tumbling from 6.1 percent in 2008 to 4.6 percent last year, World Bank figures show.
With 39 percent of the country aged between 16 and 40, according to government data, jobs are a major issue for young first-time voters like Urmila Maharjan.
The 22-year-old Kathmandu-based student told AFP she hoped the new assembly will address issues like unemployment.
Organising the election has been a logistical headache in a country home to eight of the worlds 14 highest mountains, requiring helicopters, horses and porters to deliver ballot boxes to remote areas. afp
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
