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Nepal’s king set to fall as nation votes

UN hails historic elections

AFP, Kathmandu
The troubled Himalayan kingdom of Nepal yesterday gave an historic vote of support for a peace process that is set to abolish an unpopular monarchy and reshape the impoverished country.
The United Nations peace mission said the elections for a 601 -seat assembly, the climax of a peace process involving mainstream parties and Maoist rebels, had been met with a show of "overwhelming enthusiasm” across the roof the world.
"Clearly there has been overwhelming enthusiasm on part of the people to come out and and cast their vote," UN spokesman Kieran Dwyer told AFP as polling stations closed.
"There have been reports of incidents in some constituencies across the country, but so far in a relatively small number of areas," he said of the calmer-than-expected election day.
The final results are not expected for several weeks.
Security has been tight across the country, cars have been off the roads, and alcohol sales banned — with authorities determined to prevent an escalation of the killings, bombings and reports of widespread voter intimidation that plagued the final days of cam-paigning.
Sporadic violence, including two deaths in the ethnically tense south, was reported — but the incidents reported so far have been far less dramatic than the meltdown many had feared.
Police and election officials said voting had been halted in just a handful of 21,000 polling booths, many of which have been watched by an unprecedented army of international and local observers.
The elections are central to the 2006 peace deal that ended a decade-long Maoist insurgency — a brutal war that led to at least 13,000 deaths — and attempts by the country's unpopular King Gyanendra to assume absolute power.
The king, who took the throne in 2001 after much-loved former king Birendra and most of the rest of the family were massacred by a drunk and drugged crown prince, is expected to be sacked when the new constituent assembly is formed.
But he can still count on support from sections of the army and Hindu fundamentalists, who see him as an incarnation of a Hindu god, and analysts say the post-vote period will be another major test for the resilience of the peace process. Gyanendra and his controversial sor and heir Paras - loathed for hi; playboy antics in one of the world'; poorest countries - were nowhere tc be seen on pollingday.
For their part, the Maoists are stil viewed by many with deep suspicior and accused of using bullying tactic? despite their pledge to embrace multi-partydemocracy.
The big question, say analysts, is whether the outcome gives the Maoists - still classed by Washington as a "terrorist" organisation -enough political clout to motivate them to stay within the democratic system.
Nepal's main parties, the centrist Nepali Congress and the centre-left Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), are expected to grab most of the seats.
But Maoist leader Prachanda, who was greeted with flowers and cheering crowds when he voted, said the democratic experience was being embraced by his rebel force -whose 20,000 fighters have been confined to UN-monitored camps.
"We are making new history for Nepal and it is fantastic," Prachanda told AFP after casting his vote.
Still, his part)' has wanted it could fight again if it feels cheated by the result.
Youth activist Rajendra Mulmi said the country was simply hoping for better days ahead after the war crippled Nepal's economy.
"People have waited a long time for development and there is no alternative to peace, ' said Mulmi. head of an umbrella group for youth organisations.
"Whoever rules the country will have to deal with die economic agenda. We have China and India on either side, which are main players in the global economy. We have to take advantage of ouHoratinn."