Return
to Story Page
To print: Select File and then Print from your
browser's menu
REUTERS
KATHMANDU, MAY 21: The centrist Nepali Congress Party has won an absolute majority of parliamentary seats in the Himalayan kingdom's general election, state radio said today.
It said Congress had won 103 seats out of the 188 results declared so far in the 205-member House of Representatives in the country's third election since multi-party democracy was established nine years ago.
Nepal's constitution requires that a party must win a minimum of 103 seats in the 205-member lower house of representatives to rule the nation, which is among the most poverty-stricken in the world.
State radio said the Congress' arch-rival, the Communist United Marxist-Leninist Party, had won 64 seats to become a strong opposition in parliament.
Nepal has been torn by instability since a 1994 election produced a splintered parliament. A succession of six short-lived and weak coalitions or minority governments hampered economic development, which is 60 per cent funded by Western donors.
The Congress party had 83 members inthe previous lower house. The UML had 89 deputies before its rank were split into two factions last year.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
------------------------------------------------------------