UAE's Nepalese community pleasantly surprised

Dubai: The strong showing by the Maoists in the Nepal elections has taken the Nepalese community in the UAE by surprise.

Many people from the Himalayan country said they were expecting a hung parliament but the Maoists on Sunday looked all set for a historic win.

However, community members cautioned that promises made by Maoist leader Prachanda should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Sunita Zeederbwerg, a Nepalese who works as a teaching assistant and is married to a South African, said she spoke to her parents in Nepal on election day as she was worried about unrest taking place.

"In my opinion it is a good sign that finally the elections have taken place peacefully in Nepal. The country does need a multi-party system," she said.

"What's taking place today in Nepal is quite historic. The country will cease to be a kingdom. In my opinion the people will learn to accept democracy but having said that Nepal had democracy in 1999 and nothing good came out of it," said Zeederbwerg.

"The political parties were engrossed in infighting. The party which is set to govern should not repeat the mistakes but learn from them and bring stability to the country," she said.

Sanjeev Shresta, a Nepalese living in the UAE for the last 10 years, said the promises made by Prachanda should be taken with a pinch of salt.

"This is not the first time that our country had been given promises of democracy and stability. What happened in the '90s was a good lesson, as even then the people who came to power made tall promises but were unable to maintain themselves in the office due to corruption.

"Former guerrillas winning seats in the polls was totally unexpected. This shows that people are fed up with monarchy. I can only show my appreciation to whosoever comes to power if they keep their promises to the people. Mere words are not good enough for Nepal to progress."

Deepak Pun, a Nepalese who works as a security guard, said: "The country is in tatters. Many Nepalese are leaving the country because there are no jobs. The tourism industry is ruined and there is a lot of poverty. I am glad that Maoists have taken the lead in the elections. They have fought to restore democracy but the task of nation building is not going to be easy. This is the best opportunity for Maoists to prove themselves to the people."