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CPN-UML supporters hold a celebration rally after winning the mayoral post at Surya Binayak Municipality of Bhaktapur District in the Kathmandu Valley. [Photo by Kavita Thapa / China.org.cn]

The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) has swept the local polls in the first phase of the election held on May 14. The UML, which was brought down from the government by a coalition of the Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Centre 10 months ago, emerged as the largest political force, thanks to its nationalist stand that it took in defiance of the Indian economic embargo in 2015.

The election was held in 283 local units out of 744 in three provinces that were restructured with the promulgation of the new constitution. They comprise metropolitan cities, sub-metropolitan cities, municipalities and rural municipalities.

The UML has secured the chiefs in over 125 local units, the NC 104 and Maoist Centre 46. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party and other newly formed forces were swept away in the election, considered to be a milestone in strengthening local democracy. The people have chosen the established parties having a long history of struggle for democracy, peace and development.

The second phase of the election will be conducted in the remaining provinces, including the Terai region bordering India, on June 14. This will further test the strength of the mainstream as well as fringe Madhesi parties.

The UML, hopeful of maintaining its winning streak in the second round of the poll, has already taken centre stage in national politics. The voters have given the thumbs up to the UML's stance against foreign meddling and divisive ethnic-centric politics roiling the southern plains of the country.

"The people have endorsed our stand on nationalism and national dignity," said UML chair and former prime minister KP Sharma Oli. Oli noted that his party emerged victorious despite the state-sponsored rigging, violence, booth capturing and murdering of his party workers.

Oli, who led the party to victory, has promised that his elected comrades would live up to the people's faith and mandate by performing extraordinary works during their tenure in office.

One of the striking features of the election is that the electorates in the metropolises voted for the UML. It registered a victory in three metropolises out of four in a clear indication that more informed and politically enlightened citizenry prefer the moderate communist party. It won 53 percent of the local units in the Kathmandu Valley, the nerve centre of national politics. It successfully knocked out the electoral alliance of the Nepali Congress and Maoist Centre in Pokhara metropolis and Hetuada Sub-Metropolitan City.

The UML's thumping win has also been seen as the indirect endorsement of the historic trade and transit agreement reached with the northern neighbour, China. The Oli-led government had signed a 10-point accord with China in a historic move to reduce Nepal's dependency on India, get access to the sea via Chinese territory, achieve economic growth through trade, connectivity and investment, and boost Nepal's international image. The landmark accord finally inducted Nepal into the One Belt One Road initiative of China.

Oli sought the support of China when India imposed a blockade as the Himalayan nation was struggling to pick up the pieces following the devastating earthquake in April and May 2015. India was unhappy with the collective decision of the Nepalese leaders to promulgate the new constitution. It was one of the rare moments when the Nepalese actors shrugged off the Indian instruction and desire to be a vital stakeholder in the domestic affairs of its small neighbour. Oli led this entire political process from the front and stood up to the foreign interference. And his rational patriotism finally paid off in the crucial local polls.

However, the ruling parties have also been hoisted by their own petard to some extent. In an ugly clash with the judiciary, the governing party lawmakers impeached Chief Justice Sushila Karki after she issued several rulings against the government's arbitrary decisions and highhandedness.

The NC president, Sher Bahadur Deuba, dragged himself into the scandal involving the appointment of the police chief. His bid to appoint his loyalist as the head cop by undermining meritocracy and inherent norms was thwarted by the court. The malicious move to indict a bold, clean and popular CJ ahead of the election severely backfired on the ruling parties at the ballot box.

Ritu Raj Subedi is an associate editor of The Rising Nepal.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

 

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