Election Fever

So tomorrow is the big election! Much has happened in the 12 years since the last one. A royal massacre, an insurgency, a peace process and a demoted king. But there is much hope that tomorrow will be a turning point. Once the dust has settled from the election, the royalty’s future will be decided and the Maoists will hopefully be fully politically integrated.

The run-up to the election has been a bit rough at points. A blockade of the entire south of the country (resolved by an agreement), some kidnapping, assaulting and assassination of political candidates, and a few small bombs. Not yet a Canadian-style election, but not Zimbabwe either.

Nepal’s symbology is blissfully unaware of Europe’s, so the following sign makes perfect sense here:

Hammer and sickle is, of course, the Maoist symbol, and everyone here votes by stamping a swastika next to the symbol of their favourite party.

There may be election fever, but it’s not from a hangover. Alcohol sales are banned for the week, and no cars can drive tomorrow. It’s also possible that there will be some communication cuts. But we’re not in any real danger.

The interesting time might actually be next week when the Maoists discover that they only got 20-30% of the vote, which is actually a pretty good showing in a country with oodles of parties. The problem is that the political wing has been telling the military wing that they’ll be taking power. There are even (soon to be embarrassing) posters proclaiming Prachanda as Nepal’s first, future president. Hopefully all the parties will accept the results without too much of a fuss. I mean, Jimmy Carter’s even here to make sure that the voting is on the up-and-up.

We’ll keep you posted!