Pushpa Kamal Dahal only candidate for PM election; UML decides not to field candidate

Kathmandu / Aug 02 : The election for selecting the new Prime Minister of the Country will take place on Wednesday. Chairperson of the CPN-Maoist (Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal is the only candidate for the post of Prime Minister.

The parliament meeting will start at 11 a.m. on Wednesday for electing the new Prime Minister. Dahal has registered his nomination for the prime ministerial election on Tuesday. Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba proposed Dahal as the candidate for new Prime Minister, while CPN Maoist Centre leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara seconded Deuba.

Three Madhesi leaders — Upendra Yadav of Social Forum-Nepal, Sarvendra Nath Shukla of Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party and Laxman Lal Karna of Sadbhawana Party — have supported Dahal’s candidacy along with lawmakers Jayadev Joshi, Chandeshwar Jha and Kumar Khadka.

The Madhesh centric political parties, who had boycotted the parliament after the promulgation of new constitution, have supported Dahal for the election of Prime Minister.

After the deadline to choose new Prime Minister through consensus ended on Sunday, President Bidya Devi Bhandari asked the Parliament to hold election to form majoritarian government as per the constitutional provision.

Top leaders of Maoist Centre and Nepali Congress have made an agreement that Dahal would serve as the Prime Minister for nine months before handing over handing over power to Deuba. Earlier CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist (Centre) had also signed similar deal but the coalition splinted after CPN-UML leader K.P. Sharma Oli failed to abide by the agreement and hand-over power to CPN-Maoist (Centre).

Meanwhile, outgoing Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s party CPN-UML on Tuesday decided not to field any candidate in the prime ministerial election.

A meeting of CPN-UML, second largest party in the Parliament, took decision to this effect. The party, however, will cast vote against CPN Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is candidate of the Nepali Congress-Maoist alliance, in the prime ministerial election scheduled for tomorrow.

According to CPN-UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai, today’s meeting decided that the party would stay in the opposition responsibly. Earlier the CPN-UML had mulled pitching the deputy leader of its Parliamentary Party and former Speaker, Subas Chandra Nembang, against Dahal.