2017, A Game-Changer Year for Nepal

From the local body polls to the ongoing provincial and parliamentary elections, the year 2017 (2074 for Nepal) has been the most important year for Nepal and its people mainly because of elections.

While the three-tier local body polls were held on May 14, June 28 and September 19 of the current year, the most-awaited general elections for electing members for the provincial and parliamentary seats are currently underway in two phases (November 26 and December 7, 2017).

These two elections are important for Nepal for two reasons: One being the socio-political transformation that the Nepali citizens have been waiting for since around two decades and the other being the country witnessing these many number of elections in a single year for the first time in its history.

Local Body Polls

Nepal’s local body polls 2017 drew a huge response from the governments across the world, such as Japan, US, India, among others, which acclaimed that as Nepal’s major step towards its long-awaited development process.

“This is a significant progress towards the implementation of the constitution that was promulgated in 2015,” said the Government of Japan.

“Most importantly, Nepal held the first local elections in 20 years – a significant milestone for your democratic government,” stated the US President Donald Trump.

Upon the completion of local body elections, the United Nations had also hailed Nepal for its efforts towards institutionalizing democratic process through local body polls.

The local body election that concluded with the final phase on September 19, 2017 left its mark registering a record voter turnout.

Provincial and Parliamentary Polls

The intense election heat that began with the local body polls at the start of the Nepal new year 2074 in May continues till date currently in the form of the country’s general provincial and parliamentary polls that are underway.

This legislative election, also termed as the general election, began with the first phase polls that was conducted on November 26, 2017 across 37 constituencies of the House of Representatives and 74 provincial assembly constituencies.

The final phase is slated for December 7, 2017 and will cover 45 districts of the Tarai and hill areas for electing a total of 128 seats for the House of Representatives and 256 provincial assembly seats.

Nepal legislative election 2017 is being seen as a game-changer for Nepal as the country is most likely to witness an end to its long political and social turmoil along with the formation of new constitution.