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Nepal Parliamentarians fail again to elect new Prime Minister

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, Oct 29, IRNA -- Nepal’s Parliamentarians on Friday failed again to elect new prime minister.

Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudyal, the sole candidate who is adamant over not quitting the prime ministerial race, today failed to garner a majority in Parliament for an unprecedented 14th time in a row, prolonging the leadership crisis in the country.

Four months after the 22-party coalition led by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal collapsed under intense pressure from the Maoists, the parliament has been unable to elect a new leader despite a series of polls since June 30.

The 65-year-old Poudyal secured only 96 votes in his favour and two votes were cast against him while 40 of the total 138 lawmakers, who took part in the election, remained neutral.

The next round of prime ministerial election, which is also expected to remain deadlocked, is scheduled to take place on November 1.

Main opposition CPN-Maoist, which ended its decade-long civil war in 2006, is the single largest party with 238 seats, while Nepali Congress (NC) has 114 members in the House whose two-year term was extended by one year on May 28.

The CPN-UML, the third largest party with a strength of 109 and the Madhesi alliance with the combined strength of some 80 lawmakers and other smaller parties have called for a national government.

The Maoists, CPN-UML and the Madhesi alliance have been staying away from the election process as they want the formation of a national government.

Nepali Congress has ruled out the possibility of forming the next government under the Maoists' leadership till the former rebels lay down their arms, integrate their combatants with the security forces and dissolve the paramilitary organisation of their youth wing, Young Communist League, so that the peace process could be completed.

As per Nepal's interim constitution, the election process should continue till a new leader is elected in the parliament through a simple majority of 301 votes.

The country has been in political limbo since the June 30 resignation of Nepal.

It has stalled the country's peace process and delayed the annual budget, bringing the nation on the brink of financial crisis.

The Unified CPN-Maoist party has opposed Nepal's caretaker government's move to present a budget for the current fiscal year, even as the government is facing acute fund crunch due to its delay.

Only an elected government can present budget for new fiscal year, not a caretaker one, the Maoist leaders have underlined.

The country will plunge into severe economic crisis if the budget is not approved by mid-November, said Jagdish Chandra Pokharel, vice chairman of National Planning Commission.

A key meeting of three major political parties held today to reach understanding on the budget ended inconclusively due to the Maoists’ stance, sources said.

Prachanda headed a Maoist-led government after the former rebels won the 2008 elections, but it later collapsed in less than a year after a dispute with President Ram Baran Yadav over their attempt to replace the then army chief Rukmangad Katwal.