Katmandu: Nepal’s Election Commission said on Wednesday that 125 political parties had registered to contest the first parliamentary polls since a mass uprising in September ousted the government.
Many are established parties, but some of the movements vying for seats in the March 2026 vote were formed by youth activists who helped launch the anti-corruption protests that shook the country earlier this year.
“We are working with a belief that all political parties and citizens are eager to bring a new leadership to the country through the election,” commission spokesman Narayan Prasad Bhattarai told AFP.
Registration remains open for another two weeks.
The final list, including the exact number of new parties and those associated with youth groups, will be released after the November 18 deadline.
The September protests, triggered by a brief ban on social media, quickly morphed into a nationwide movement against economic hardship and government corruption.
Two days of violent unrest killed at least 73 people, and saw parliament, courts and government buildings set ablaze.
In the aftermath, former chief justice Sushila Karki, 73, was appointed interim prime minister to guide the Himalayan nation until elections.
Nepal’s political future remains uncertain, with deep public distrust of established parties posing a major challenge to holding credible elections.
But Bhattarai insisted the commission was determined to “conduct the election in a peaceful, impartial, and fear-free environment.”
Karki on October 29 held the first talks between political parties and youth representatives since the protests, attended by all major political parties including that of ousted premier KP Sharma Oli.
The unrest further weakened Nepal’s already fragile economy, with the World Bank warning in October that “heightened political and economic uncertainty are expected to cause growth to decline” to 2.1 percent.
The bank estimates a “staggering” 82 percent of Nepal’s workforce is in informal employment, with GDP per capita at $1,447 in 2024.
Nepal registers 125 parties for post-uprising polls
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Nepal registers 125 parties for post-uprising polls
- The final list, including the exact number of new parties and those associated with youth groups, will be released after the November 18 deadline
Riot at Greek migrant detention center leaves 2 police injured, 30 migrants arrested
- The facility where the unrest erupted was holding about 750 migrants of various nationalities
- Arrivals from Libya to Crete have surged in recent months
THESSALONIKI, Greece: A riot broke out late Wednesday at a migrant detention center in northern Greece, leaving two police officers injured and 30 migrants arrested, authorities said.
The facility where the unrest erupted was holding about 750 migrants of various nationalities, police said. Two officers were treated for injuries after being hit by a rock and bitten on the hand.
Greece this summer introduced one of Europe’s toughest migration regimes, allowing detention for up to 24 months and imposing prison terms of two to five years for illegal entry or stay. Under the stricter laws, migrants denied asylum face mandatory jail sentences.
Wednesday’s clashes came a day after three migrants died and 55 were rescued near the southern island of Crete when a boat carrying them from Libya sank. Two of the rescued migrants, both from Sudan, were arrested on smuggling charges.
Arrivals from Libya to Crete have surged in recent months. But Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said earlier Wednesday that overall migrant arrivals had dropped compared with a year earlier.
He defended Greece’s tough migration laws and voiced support for proposals backed by other European Union members to establish dedicated deportation centers.
