Maoist ex-rebels widen lead in Nepal election

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's former Maoist rebels have widened their lead in crucial elections meant to map the country's political future and create a new Himalayan republic, the latest tally showed on Monday.

Results from last Thursday's elections for a special assembly meant to write a new constitution and formally abolish the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy show the Maoists have won 101 of the 178 seats declared, the Election Commission said. They were leading in another eight seats where counting was in progress.

In their election campaign, the Maoists abandoned many leftist policies like nationalization to embrace foreign investment and public-private partnerships. Their victory could lead to a focus on improving living conditions in one of the world's poorest nations.

But a Maoist victory will be a challenge for the United States, which always opposed negotiating with the Maoists and still labels them a terrorist group, and India, battling its own Maoist insurgency.

Despite their good showing so far, a complicated electoral system will make it difficult for them to win an absolute majority in the new assembly, charged also with running the country for at least two years.

Their likely win has puzzled many analysts, who predicted the Maoists would place third. The earlier favorites had been the Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist) -- known as Communist UML -- and the Nepal Congress, who have ended up with 24 and 30 seats respectively.

The Madheshi People's Rights Forum, which organized many of the last year's disruptive protests by a disgruntled ethnic group in Nepal's southern plains, has won 15 seats.

"It is amazing. It is a huge defeat, especially for the Nepali Congress and the UML," said Rhoderick Chalmers, Nepal head of the Brussels-based think-tank, International Crisis Group.