Police on Saturday arrested six members of the Nepal Communist Party (Revolutionary Maoist). It is alleged that these party members were raising slogans against the general elections to be held tomorrow i.e. on 20 November.
“Six people have been arrested and kept at Durbar Marg,” said Sitaram Rijal, SP, Kathmandu Valley Police Officer. The protesters were representing a coalition of communist factions against the general election.
Earlier, the Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba appealed to the citizens of the country to vote in the elections. In a tweet on Thursday, Deuba urged citizens to vote for Nepali Congress Party candidates.
He wrote in his tweet, Dear voters, let’s celebrate democracy by participating in voting on 4th November. Let’s vote for both side alliance candidates and vote for the tree symbol of the Nepali Congress. Please tell me that the 4th of November in the Nepali calendar is the 20th of November in the Indian calendar. The year 2079 is currently running according to the Nepal calendar.
According to a leading newspaper in the country, the Government of Nepal has announced a two-day public holiday for the elections to be held on November 20. Home Ministry spokesman Phanindra Mani Pokharel issued a notice on Tuesday saying that November 20 and November 21 have been declared public holidays for the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections. It further states that all educational institutions, including schools designated as polling stations, will remain closed from November 18 to 21.
On November 20, Nepal will elect 165 members of the 275-member House of Representatives (the lower house of parliament) through the first-past-the-post system. The remaining 110 seats will be decided on the basis of proportional representation. On the other hand, elections will be held for 330 seats in the state assembly.