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King's men dominate Nepal local body polls
Results were announced by the Election Commission in nearly half the 36 municipalities where polls were held on Wednesday.
Royalist candidates who totally dominated local elections called by Nepal's king duly cleaned up in the violence-plagued poll, according to official partial results released on Thursday.
Results were announced by the Election Commission in nearly half the 36 municipalities where polls were held on Wednesday, with candidates mainly from newly-formed pro-royal political parties winning the day.
The elections were boycotted by mainstream opposition parties and disrupted by Maoist rebels, leading to a voter turnout of just over 21 per cent, the commission said.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party led by Home Minister Kamal Thapa won mayors' seats in eight municipalities, and independent candidates -- many of whom are believed to back King Gyanendra -- won seven, the commission said.
Violence marred the elections, called by the king as part of his "roadmap" back to democracy after he seized power a year ago.
"The average turnout was just over 21 per cent," commission spokesman Tejmuni Bajracharya told the agency.
"This is the lowest turnout in the history of elections conducted in Nepal," he added, attributing the large-scale stay-away to "the unfavourable conditions" in the country.
