Wide-spread protests across Nepal following postponement of elections

NEW DELHI, Oct 6 (KUNA) — Protests began across Nepal Saturday demanding the ousting of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s coalition government following its decision to postpone the November 22 crucial elections to the Constituent Assembly, at the behest of the Maoists.
The third largest party in Nepal’s parliament, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), today held a demonstration in the capital Katmandu, calling the postponement a conspiracy, Indo Asian News Service reported.
“Expose the conspiracy to sabotage the constituent assembly election,” banners carried by activists of CPN-UML said.
Nepal’s Election Commission Friday announced that it was putting to an end all poll-related exercises on the orders of the government.
The CPN-UML’s student organisation also staged a protest rally in Kathmandu with reports coming in about more demonstrations outside Kathmandu valley, the news agency said.
Other parties, rights organisations and lawyers, also protested the decision to postpone elections. Nepal Bar Association, one of the strongest critics of King Gyanendra, heavily criticised the Koirala government, which it had once helped come to power.
Nepal’s media was also critical of the government’s decision to postpone the polls to appease the Maoists.