Nepal's Maoists gain first seats

The Maoists have contested an election for the first ti

Nepal's Maoist party has gained its first seats, as results are declared after Thursday's elections.

With four constituency results confirmed, the Maoists have won two, with the country's two traditionally biggest parties gaining one each.

Trends suggest the former rebels are doing well in the mid-west, where they started their insurrection.

The Maoists, who waged a guerrilla campaign for 10 years, have not been tested at the ballot box before.

One Maoist won in a remote mountain region where his chief rival helped him by standing aside, the BBC's Charles Haviland reports from Kathmandu.

But another won within the Kathmandu urban area.

Tallies of counts in progress are being announced all the time and the rebels may also gain further seats in the capital.

Former US President Jimmy Carter, who is an election observer, has said Washington must deal with the Maoists.

Speaking to the BBC's correspondent in Kathmandu, Mr Carter said: "It's been somewhat embarrassing to me and frustrating to see the United States refuse among all the other nations in the world, including the United Nations, to deal with the Maoists, when they did make major steps away from combat and away from subversion into an attempt at least to play an equal role in a political society".

Significance

Mr Carter also talked about the significance of the elections:

"It's the end, I hope, of armed conflict, of revolutionary war in fact", he said.

"Secondly, it's a total transformation in the form of government from a 240-year-old Hindu monarchy to a democratic republic.

"Third, there's a transformational involvement in the future of marginalised groups. "

Nepal held its first polls since 1999 following the Maoists' decision to quit their armed struggle in 2006.

The polls are for an assembly that is expected to re-write Nepal's constitution and abolish its monarchy.

Results for Kathmandu constituency one were declared quickly because it was the only constituency which used electronic voting machines.

Election official Prakash Man Singh said that the Maoists trailed behind the Nepali Congress candidate and the UML, a centre-left party which polled more than 6,000 votes.

Surprised

The popularity of the Maoist party is being tested at the ballot for the first time in this election.

Results for all the 240 constituencies are expected over the next 10 days. Officials say that polling has been postponed in 10 constituencies.

Many Nepalis and international observers have been surprised that Thursday's nationwide elections, just two years after the end of the Maoist insurgency, took place considerably more peacefully than past votes of the 1990s.

There were four election-related deaths in the troubled south-eastern region.

The Election Commission said there was a turnout of 60%, with polling cancelled due to malpractice in just 33 polling stations out of 21,000.

King Gyanendra seized absolute power in 2005 but was forced to give up his authoritarian rule the following year after weeks of pro-democracy protests.

He has since lost all his powers and his command of the army.

It is hoped the election will consolidate the end of the Maoist insurgency, which stopped two years ago, says the BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu.

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