Leaders from other small parties have supported the Maoist proposal, which is to be tabled in the special session of parliament on December 19.[break]
"We demand fresh start of the prime ministerial election as the previous process was terminated when the seventeenth round of voting scheduled for December 2 couldn´t take place due to prorogation of the House session," stated the proposal. CPN (Ekikrit), CPN-ML (Socialist), Nepali Janta Dal, Nepaa Rastriya Party, Rastriya Janamukti Party and Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandidevi) have supported the Maoist proposal.
Maoists have been arguing that the candidacy of Nepali Congress (NC) leader Ram Chandra Paudel, the lone candidate in the ongoing voting, is no longer effective after the end of the House session. The government had abruptly prorogued the budget session on November 19 following scuffle in parliament.
Sources at the parliament secretariat said that the proposal will be tabled at the special session. The proposal will be decided by a simple majority of the lawmakers present at the meeting.
As the CPN-UML, NC, Madhesi parties and fringe parties in the ruling coalition have deicded to vote against the proposal, should there be a voting in the parliament, the prposal is likely to be defeated.
After taking decision on the tabled proposal, the special session will be prorogued by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister. Though the special session was summoned directly by the head of state upon the petition by one fourth of the total lawmakers, the parliamentary practice in connection with ending the session is similar to that of proroguing the regular session.
Maoists and the small parties also registered a separate notice at the parliament secretariat demanding amendment to the provisions related to the prime ministerial elections. They have proposed amendment to the existing provision that requires repeated voting for indefinite times until a new prime minister is elected. They have said the voting process should be terminated and a new process begun if none of the candidates can secure majority by three rounds of voting. They have also proposed that there should be competition only between the two highest scorers as finalists after the first round of voting.
The amendment proposal will tabled for decision only if the Maoist proposal for beginning new election process is endorsed by the majority of the House.
"If the proposal is rejected, the issue about the status of Paudel´s candidacy will not be resolved. In such a case, the amendment proposal can´t be tabled because the rules and regulations about the voting can´t be amended in the middle of the process," said sources at the parliament secretariat.
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