Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav on Thursday called on political parties to form a consensus government by July 7, after Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned on Wednesday.
Various political parties have initiated discussions on forming a new government. The single-largest party in the legislative, the UCPN (Maoist), which is in the opposition, on Thursday formed a three-member committee to hold discussions with other parties on forming a new government led by the party. The committee includes party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”, vice-chairmen Baburam Bhattarai and Mohan Baidya.
Mr. Dahal, who was Prime Minister before Mr. Nepal, said the parties needed to work together towards achieving the aspiration of Nepali people to see the peace process completed and a new Constitution in place. Though he said his party should get the chance to lead the next government, the Nepali Congress and the CPN (UML) has said that until the Maoist party turns into a civilian party, implement past agreements, and fix a way to manage Maoist combatants, its leadership cannot be accepted.
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Meanwhile, to pressure the bigger parties, more than a dozen political parties represented in the Constituent Assembly held a meeting on Thursday to highlight the need to form a consensus government.