Nepal's restive south votes in historic polls

Nepal's troubled south votes Thursday in historic elections many hope will bring much-needed stability to the desperately poor country, but which have been marred by violence and fears of ethnic tension.

Thousands of police and soldiers have been deployed ahead of election day in the capital Kathmandu and the populous lowlands, with the build-up to the vote hit by violence that has left one dead and dozens injured.

The south is home to a mosaic of ethnic minorities who say a new post-war constitution denies them political representation, a cause that has sparked bloody protests in recent years.

The polls will elect the country's first provincial assemblies, devolving power away from a top-heavy central government that has cycled through 10 leaders in the last 11 years.

These assemblies will be tasked with naming their provinces, which are currently referred to by number, as well as choosing capitals and negotiating budgets with Kathmandu -- all sensitive considerations that could rekindle tensions in the ethnically-diverse south.

"How the politics will unfold will depend on how the new parliament addresses the problems and how well the provinces can function," said political analyst Chandra Kishor Jha, referring to the challenges facing Nepal as it enters uncharted territory as a federal state.

"If they cannot fulfil their promises then the groups that have been part of the struggle will not stay quiet. There is possibility of conflict again."

The election is the final step in Nepal's transition from a monarchy to a federal democracy, and comes after years of political turbulence that has obstructed development in the impoverished Himalayan nation.

It took nine years after the end of a decade-long civil war to agree to a new constitution. The charter adopted in 2015 mandated a sweeping overhaul of Nepal's political system to give greater autonomy to the provinces.

But it also sparked deadly protests in the south by ethnic minority groups who say it leaves them politically marginalised, and have demanded amendments to the charter.

The Communist CPN-UML party is expected to sweep the polls, buoyed by its alliance with the main Maoist party comprised of former rebels who fought government forces for a decade.

But the nationalistic CPN-UML has strongly opposed amending the constitution to address the demands of ethnic minorities that it views as being more closely aligned with India.

Many in the southern lowlands share close linguistic and cultural ties with Indians across the border.

Nepal's powerful neighbour to the south has long played the role of big brother in the landlocked country.

But in recent years Kathmandu has played diplomatic ping-pong with its two large neighbours, India and China, who use big-ticket infrastructure projects to vie for influence.

The elections are being held in two phases, with the mountainous north having already voted on November 26.

Results are expected in the next few days.

© 2017 AFP