According to officials at the president´s office, the head of state will formally ask the political parties to form a consensus government within the next couple of days.[break]
“His announcement may come tomorrow [Saturday] or the day after tomorrow,” Rajendra Dahal, press advisor to the president, told Republica.
The six-month long futile process to elect a new prime minister came to an end Wednesday after Nepali Congress (NC) leader Sher Bahadur Deuba withdrew the candidacy of NC leader Ram Chandra Paudel, who was the lone candidate in the prime ministerial race.
The prime minister´s press advisor Bishnu Rijal said the head of state and the head of the government discussed restarting the election as per the Article 38 (1) of the Interim Constitution. As per the article, the government should be formed on the basis of political understanding.
Speaker Subas Nembang had on Thursday briefed the president on progress so far in parliament as of Thursday with regard to the prime ministerial election.
After the prime minister´s resignation on June 30 last year, the president had asked the parties to forge consensus within seven days. He had extended the period by five more days after the parties failed to forge consensus. Parliament had started voting as per the Article 38 (2) after the parties failed to forge consensus even by the extended deadline. As per the article, a prime minister can be elected by majority votes of the total members of parliament.
But none of the candidates could secure majority even after conducting 16 rounds of voting.
Top political sources said the president is likely to give a short time for forging consensus among the parties this time around. “The leaders have already done enough exercise in forming new government over the past six months,” the source said.
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