Nepal holds final round of parliamentary, provincial assembly elections

KATHMANDU, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The second and the final phase of the parliamentary and provincial assembly elections were held in Nepal on Thursday, a crucial step to implement the milestone new constitution promulgated in September 2015.

Over 12 million Nepalese took part in the one-day election held in 45 districts of the southern plains and low hill areas including Kathmandu to elect 128 lawmakers.

Voters' turnout in Thursday's election was around 67 percent, according to the Election Commission.

"We are happy to note that the second and the final round of parliament and provincial assembly elections were held successfully in a very peaceful manner with the encouraging number of people who voted for their candidates with full of enthusiasm," Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav told media here.

The 165 directly-elected lawmakers will enter Nepal's 275-member parliament, with the remaining 110 lawmakers to be selected later with the proportion depending on the percentage of votes each political party wins.

Nepalese on Thursday also voted to elect 330 candidates to form provincial assemblies in seven provinces, while another 220 provincial lawmakers will be elected later.

The Nepalese army and police guarded the polling centers while public and private vehicles were banned from the streets during the polling.

As many as 702 candidates contested in the two-phase elections. Vote counting started in most of the parts from Thursday evening.

Sharma Oli, CPN UML chairman and also former prime minister, told Xinhua after casting his vote in Bhaktapur "This election is very important for the Nepalese politics, particularly to ending transitional phase, bringing stability and moving toward the direction of economic development and prosperity". Enditem