Amid threats of disruption of proceedings by the main opposition CPN (UML), Nepal’s parliament yesterday put off till tomorrow the scheduled election of a new premier ahead of the second phase of countrywide local polls.
The election of a new prime minister has been necessitated following the May 24 resignation of incumbent Pushpa Kamal Dahal, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre, who quit office to pave way for alliance partner Nepali Congress to head the government as per an agreement reached last year.
Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba is the lone contender for the office - which he has graced on three occasions in the past 22 years.
A meeting of the country’s parliament - scheduled yesterday and having on its agenda the prime ministerial election - did not take place in view of the disruption threat by the opposition Communist Party of Nepal
(Unified Marxists-Leninists).
The CPN (UML) is protesting the decision of the country’s Election Commission to hold re-poll in a ward of Bharatpur Metropolitan City - in central-southern Nepal - where local polls were held on May 14.
Re-poll was ordered in Ward-19 of Bharatpur Metropolitan City after two Maoist cadres tore up a bunch of ballot papers even as counting of votes was apace on May 28. Renu Dahal, daughter of CPN (Maoist-Centre) chairman Dahal, was trailing CPN (UML) nominee Devi Gyawali for the post of Bharatpur mayor when the vandalism took place at the counting centre.
The torn ballots - numbering 90 - were later counted separately in the presence of representatives of all parties and it was found that Gyawali had an edge over Dahal. The CPN (UML), strongly opposed to a re-poll, has demanded that the counting of votes should resume in the affected ward.
The second phase of local polls in Nepal - to be held majorly in the southern Nepali Teraian region - was originally slated for June 14 but will now be conducted
a fortnight later on June 28.
The caretaker government decided to reschedule the date for the election in view of the holy month of Ramadan. The move was also aimed at bringing the agitating Madhesi political parties on board for the election process, officials said.
The first phase of elections to local government bodies saw polling in 283 units in three provinces of the country on May 14. The second phase of local elections will see polling in 461 units in four provinces.
Deuba only candidate running for PM office
IANS
Kathmandu
Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba was the sole candidate to run for the office of the prime minister, Parliament Secretariat
has said.
Any member of parliament willing to contest the election was asked to register his or her candidacy for the Prime Minister’s Office at the Parliament Secretariat, Xinhua news agency reported.
As the deadline expired on Saturday, Deuba was the only member to have filed his
nomination.
Earlier in the day, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal proposed Deuba for the post of the prime minister, while Nepali Congress senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel and leaders from other four political parties backed Deuba.
Media reports said Deuba was set to become the prime minister with majority votes in the house this week.
Deuba needs 297 votes in the 593-member parliament to win. His Nepali Congress party holds 207 seats while the CPN (Maoist Centre) has 82 seats.
Some other small parties have also thrown their weight behind Deuba’s candidacy.
Deuba, 70, served as the prime minister from 1995 to 1997, from 2001 to 2002, and from 2004 to 2005.
Nepal decided to form a new government on the basis of majority votes as per the call by President Bidya Devi Bhandari following the failure of major parties to form a consensus
government.
The new prime ministerial election in the Himalayan nation comes after Dahal stepped down on May 24 in keeping with the accord on rotational prime ministership his party had with the Nepali Congress.
Sher Bahadur Deuba
