NEPAL'S CA ELECTION: UML MINISTERS RESIGN

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000432 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PTER KDEM NP SUBJECT: NEPAL'S CA ELECTION: UML MINISTERS RESIGN REF: A. KATHMANDU 428 ¶B. KATHMANDU 417 Four More First-Past-the-Post Contests Decided -------------- - ¶1. (U) As of noon local time on April 17, Nepal's Election Commission has announced the results of 220 out of 240 (92 percent) of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) races from the April 10 Constituent Assembly (CA) election. The Nepali Congress (NC),Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (UML),Madhesi People's Right Forum (MPRF),and a minor left party each won one contest in which winners were declared over the past 24 hours. The current standings are as follows, with numbers in parentheses noting additional wins since Ref A: Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist - 116 seats, 53 percent of declared total (0) NC - 33 seats, 15 percent (1) UML - 31 seats, 14 percent (1) MPRF - 24 seats, 11 percent (1) Other Madhesi parties - 10 seats, 4.5 percent (0) Minor left parties - 4 seats, 2 percent (1) Independents - 2 seats, 1 percent (0) Maoists Increase Lead in PR Vote -------------- ¶2. (U) Also as of noon local time, the Election Commission has counted 28 percent of the proportional representation (PR) ballots. The Maoists have increased their margin of victory by two percentage points, while the other major parties either decreased or retained the same share of tallied PR votes. Maoists - 32 percent UML - 22 percent NC - 22 percent MPRF - 3.5 percent (Note: Parties will be awarded pro rata shares of the Assembly's 335 PR seats based on their final percentages of PR ballots.) UML Ministers Resign -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On the evening of April 16, five UML cabinet ministers -- including Foreign Minister Sahana Pradhan -- and two UML state ministers tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Koirala. The UML on April 13 had announced its intent to resign from the government because of its weak showing in the election (Ref B). POWELL