KATHMANDU — Nepali politicians have called on people to ensure a successful voting day on Thursday in the nation’s first general election since deadly youth-led protests toppled the government last September.In an address to the nation on Monday, Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki urged people to go to polling stations, acknowledging the election is being held after a “complex, sensitive and challenging” time.The protests in Nepal last year revealed the extent of young people’s frustration with corruption and a lack of opportunity in the country, where around a fifth of young adults are unemployed.Nearly 19 million people, including 800,000 first-time voters, will take part in the vote for the House of Representatives, the lower of the two houses of parliament.Balendra Shah, widely known as Balen, is seen as front-runner after emerging as a popular figure during the campaign. He was elected mayor of the capital, Kathmandu, in 2022 and later left the post to become the National Independent Party’s candidate for prime minister.The 35-year-old Shah trained as a structural engineer and later gained modest fame as a rap artist, using his music to take on social issues and politics.Police said they arrested 133 people on charges of “anti-election activities”, 70 of whom were still in custody as of Sunday evening.Describing the election as a chance to decide the country’s future, Karki, a former chief justice, asked Nepali people to maintain peace and harmony throughout the election season in her televised broadcast to the nation, “It is only with your active participation that our democracy will survive,” she said.Also on Monday, President Ram Chandra Poudel said it was a shared responsibility and historic duty to make this election successful. He called on voters to seize the “historic opportunity to make the journey of federal democratic republic more comprehensive, credible and consolidated”.More than 3,400 candidates are standing for 275 seats of the House on Thursday. More than 1,000 of them are under the age of 40.Officials said that the election activities have been conducted peacefully so far, with security agencies across the country on high alert.Nepal police has mobilised approximately 77,000 officers and 134,000 election police officers, while the Nepali Army has deployed nearly 80,000 personnel for security.Among those arrested ahead of the voting day is Durga Prasai, a controversial political figure who has been arrested multiple times on various charges in the past two years.A medical entrepreneur, Prasai is also the coordinator of the Nation, Nationalism, Religion, Culture, and Citizens’ Protection Campaign, which demands the restoration of the monarchy and Nepal as a Hindu kingdom.He was arrested after announcing a protest programme targeting this week’s election, according to BBC Nepali. His secretariat said the arrest thwarted Prasai’s “right to freedom of expression and peaceful expression of opinion”.
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