Contest for coveted PM chair goes for a six

POST REPORT

KATHMANDU, SEP 05 -
Six consecutive failures in the race for prime minister have not deterred the parties from going for another round of polls on Sept. 7.

Nepali Congress (NC) has dug in its heels. Can’t, shan’t, won’t, is its response to suggestions on withdrawing from the prime ministerial race. The CPN-UML canary is going on humming a tuneless tune. For the UCPN (Maoist) the process has become a poison that it can neither swallow nor spit out.

“This election has placed us between the devil and deep sea,” Maoist spokesman Dinanath Sharma said. Despite the Maoist party’s wish to withdraw Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s candidacy to jumpstart a new course, the party has for now decided to try its luck one more time. “Even if we withdraw, NC won’t and that complicates the issue,” Sharma clarified.

Meanwhile the third largest party, CPN-UML remains on the fence. The party establishment wants to continue its neutral stand. Yet, a faction led by senior leader KP Sharma Oli is contemplating voting for Ram Chandra Poudel of the NC. “We have a standing policy of not voting for the Maoists unless they transform, but there are no preconditions for supporting NC,” a Central Committee member close to Oli told the Post.

UML leader Pradeep Gywali also hinted at a shift in UML’s thinking “if the parties forge consensus in time for the eighth round, that would be a better solution. Otherwise politics will take a new course.”

Gywali did not elaborate on the “new course” saying that discussions have not evolved fully.

A Maoist leader blamed the “dual character” of the UML for the protracted rounds of the prime ministerial election. “The prime minister’s party Chairman is opting to stay neutral, while he (prime minister) himself wants to prolong the election process,” he added.

Gyawali says contentious issues centred around the peace process have to be addressed.

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