Nepal's Parliament voted, and failed, to elect a Prime Minister for the eighth time on Sunday. The only candidate in the fray, Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel, got 116 votes — far less than the simple majority required in the House of 601. The Maoists formally withdrew their proposal to elect chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda', in the House session. This was in accordance with a three-point agreement signed between the Maoists and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) last week. Both parties had decided to end this process and seek a basis for a unity government. On Sunday, both parties abstained from the vote.
Even before the vote, it was clear there was almost no chance of Mr. Poudel winning. Both UML and Maoists had exerted pressure on Speaker Subash Nemwang to terminate the present voting process. But the Speaker said he could not do so till the other side, meaning Nepali Congress, agreed too. The Nepali Congress has maintained that withdrawal of their candidate, without a concrete alternative, will only lead to a political and constitutional crisis.
The business advisory committee has decided to hold a ninth round of vote, with only Mr. Poudel as candidate again, on September 30.
