Nepal’s House Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar on Thursday prorogued Parliament, leaving the fate of the second phase of local body polls in doubt.
Agitating parties have been consistent in their demand that local body polls cannot take place without a consensus being reached on the Constitution Amendment. The government on Thursday recognized the Madhesh and Tharuhat movements as political movements and also agreed to release political prisoners.
On Sunday, Nepal held the first phase of local elections, which are taking place after nearly 20 years. The first phase was held in three of the seven provinces and a 73 percent turnout was recorded.
50,000 candidates are contesting the elections for the posts of mayor, deputy mayor, ward chairman, and ward member in 283 constituencies.
The second phase of the elections is to be held in the low lying areas of Nepal, which border India and is home to nine million voters.