Dearth of candidates in Nepal election

"The elections will be held in 36 municipalities only, in the other 22 there will be no contest because there are not enough candidates," said spokesman Tejmuni Bajracharya.

Some 608 candidates who initially registered have already dropped out of the election race "for personal reasons" and 18 candidates have been rejected leaving only 3,028 candidates for 4,146 seats, Bajracharya said.

The polls are part of King Gyanendra's "road map to democracy" after he sacked the government and seized power last February. They have been branded a farce by opposition political parties, and rebel Maoists have threatened to disrupt them.

Private media reported at the weekend that some candidates are living in army camps out of fear of Maoist attacks. One prospective candidate has been killed by suspected Maoists.

"Where there is only one contestant for the post, the district election official will declare him or her the winner," the commission spokesman said.

In each of the 22 municipalities where there will be no polling, there is one candidate for mayor, who will be formally appointed. However, he or she will be faced with severe staff shortages because there is no provision for appointing people to elected positions.

The Maoists, who have been fighting to establish a communist republic since 1996, have called a week-long, nationwide general strike, timed to coincide with polling day on February 8.

Last November the Maoists and Nepali opposition parties formed a loose alliance to demand elections for a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution for the kingdom.

King Gyanendra has promised to hold general elections by April 2007.

Since the Maoists began their "people's war" a decade ago, more than 12,500 people have been killed.