Despite last minute negotiations, Nepal's political parties failed to agree on a consensus government to replace the seven-month old caretaker Madhav Nepal-led government. President Ram Baran Yadav's deadline to the parties to form such a unity government ended on Wednesday.
Sources from Kathmandu told The Hindu that talks failed as all the three major parties — Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC), and Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) — staked claim for leadership in the next government.
The Maoists said that as the largest party in Parliament, the key stakeholder of the peace process, and the “key agent of change”, they had a right to lead a unity government. Countering the assertion by NC and UML that Maoists were not yet a “civilian party”, chairman Prachanda cited the recent move to handover the PLA to the all-party special committee as a reflection of Maoist commitment to the democratic and peace process.
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The NC, whose candidate Ram Chandra Poudel's withdrawal ended the previous voting process, argued it was now their turn since both the Maoists and UML had led the government after the Constituent Assembly elections and failed to finish the peace and Constitution process.
UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal said since Maoist leadership was not acceptable to the other parties and NC leadership was unacceptable to the Maoists, only UML could lead a consensus formation.
With efforts at consensus failing, the parties will elect a Prime Minister through voting in Parliament. In a bid to make the process more decisive, the legislature-Parliament had adopted a new election regulation on Tuesday. Under the new provisions, if no candidate is able to secure a majority of the votes, the process will terminate after the third round of voting. The amendment comes after sixteen rounds of voting failed to throw up a Prime Minister after Madhav Nepal's resignation last June,
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