Round I fails to elect new PM

KATHMANDU, July 21: The parliament on Wednesday failed to elect a new prime minister with none of the candidates securing a majority, 300 votes, in the current 599-member House.

While UCPN (Maoist) candidate Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress (NC) candidate Ram Chandra Poudel fell short of a simple majority, the CPN-UML, which had fielded party chairman Jhalanath Khanal, withdrew its candidacy in the eleventh hour.

The UML stated that it would be against the party´s central committee (CC) decision to contest the election without the possibility of having a two-thirds majority. The UML and some fringe parties remained neutral during the voting over Dahal and Poudel´s candidacy.

Of the 592 lawmakers present in voting, Dahal received 242 votes in his favor and 114 against him, while 236 were neutral. Similarly, of the 597 lawmakers present, 124 voted for Poudel, 235 against him and 228 remained neutral.

The Maoist party, which has 237 votes, also received two votes from Janamukti Party, one each from Janata Dal and Nepa Rastriya Party, and it remains unclear who cast the rest one vote.

Similarly, the NC, which has 113 votes, received eight votes from Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and three from Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP).

The voting process began at 3.45 pm, nearly five hours later than the scheduled time after the UML remained busy wooing the Madhes-based parties.

After his candidacy was withdrawn, Khanal said his party´s decision will contribute to national consensus.

The Maoists said that they will put in efforts to elect Dahal with a two-thirds majority and try to form a majority government in case they fail to gain a two-thirds majority.

Nepali Congress hopes that the political parties that were neutral during the voting would support it in the second round of election. "Most of those who remained neutral are the coalition partners in the current government. I hope they will vote for me," said NC candidate Poudel.

No option to consensus: Nepal

Senior UML leader and caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who had proposed Khanal as the party´s candidate, stated in the parliament that his party withdrew the party´s candidacy for the sake of national consensus.

On Tuesday, the UML Central Committee meeting had decided to ask Khanal to show in writing the commitment of a two-thirds majority of lawmakers to elect him as the prime minister before entering into the process of voting in parliament.

While the Maoists gave a written commitment to Khanal Wednesday morning, Madhes-based parties did not, despite his marathon meetings with them till the last hours.

"There was no reason to quit the government as we had a comfortable majority," said Nepal giving rationale behind his party´s decision not to field any candidate after the party fell short of a two thirds-majority.

In a satire at Khanal, Nepal argued that it was not a big deal for the UML to garner a simple majority.

Nepal added that his party would rather continue taking initiatives for national consensus rather than lead another majority government. "There is no alternative to national consensus," he said.

Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=21299