Poll-Opposing Parties On Protest

A group of 42 political parties have announced that they will boycott the polls scheduled to be held on Novemeber 19. They called a nationwide general strike on Sunday and have also threatened to launch other nationwide protest programmes against the government’s decision to announce the election date. The alliance includes the CPN-Maoist-led 33-party alliance, the Upendra Yadav-led Federal Democratic Front (FDF) and the Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party Nepal (FSPN). Terming the announcement of the poll date as unconstitutional and authoritarian at a press conference on Thursday, they said they will launch a joint protest against the move. These parties demand that the election government must be replaced with a political one.