Nepal is to have a majority government, with the election of a new Prime Minister slated for July 21.
Though most political parties in the Constituent Assembly have said a consensus government is needed to complete the peace process, differences between major political parties crushed such a possibility.
The second deadline given by President Ram Baran Yadav to form a consensus government expired on Monday and he asked the House to form a majority government. Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Subash Chandra Nembang on Tuesday announced the date, July 21, to elect a new Prime Minister.
Prime ministerial candidates have to file their candidacy on July 20.
Madhav Kumar Nepal, who is now the caretaker Prime Minister, resigned from his post as Premier on June 30 as per an earlier deal made among the top political parties — the UCPN (Maoist), the Nepali Congress, and the CPN (UML).
The deal also said his government would be replaced by a consensus government; however, that did not happen as these parties could not see eye to eye on issues such as the modality of integration and rehabilitation of the Maoists' army — the People's Liberation Army. The Maoists had presented a proposal to break the political deadlock, but the Nepali Congress and the CPN (UML) did not accept it saying it would not create consensus.
Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress, the second largest party, is moving to lead the new government. Nepali Congress spokesperson Arjun Narsingh KC said his party washas started holding discussions with other parties.
The Maoists are also making efforts to take the lead. Among others, the names of Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” and Baburam Bhattarai from the Maoists and Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Paudel are being heard as prime ministerial candidates. However no official nominations have been made.
On the other hand, more than a dozen other parties in the CA have expressed their disappointment with the major parties for being irresponsible and not forming a consensus government.
