Ex-rebels win half of elected seats in Nepal

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- Nepal's former communist insurgents won half the directly elected seats for a constitution-drafting assembly in this month's election, showing strong national support for the ex-rebels, the chief election official said Monday.

The April 10 elections were the first since the former rebels, known as the Maoists, joined the political mainstream in a peace process last year, though they are still considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

Formally known as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the ex-rebels billed themselves as a real change from the traditional, squabble-laden politics of the country's recent past and launched a campaign relying heavily on grass-roots, door-to-door promotion.

The party has won 120 of the 240 directly elected seats, chief election commissioner Bhojraj Pokhrel said. Counting for three seats was continuing, but the Maoists were not expected to win those.

The Nepali Congress party has won 37 seats, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) has 32, and the Madeshi People's Rights Forum, which has sought autonomy and greater rights for people in southern Nepal, has 28 seats.

The directly elected seats make up only about 40 percent of the total seats in the assembly.

Most of the additional seats are allotted to political parties based on the percentage of votes they received in separate proportional representation ballots. Results for those 335 seats are expected later in the week.

So far in that tally, the former rebels have garnered about 2.9 million votes out of the 9.6 million so far counted. The Nepali Congress has 2.1 million and the United Marxist-Leninists 2 million. About 10.5 million proportional representation ballots were cast.

The remaining 26 members in the 601-seat Constituent Assembly are nominated by the government.

The assembly will rewrite the constitution, deciding the future political system for Nepal and governing the nation in the interim.

The election results have surprised traditional powers such as Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist).

The Maoists gave up a 10-year insurgency in 2006 to launch a peace process, joining parliament and government in 2007. More than 13,000 people died in the fighting. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

All About Nepalese Politics • King Gyanendra • Insurgencies • Nepal