Current provisions stipulate that parliament will go on holding one round of vote after another until a prime minister is finally elected. [break]
Maoist failure to garner the support of the CPN-UML or the Nepali Congress (NC), intra-party fissures in the UML and the anti-Maoist stance of Madhes-based parties have so far rendered both candidates -- Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal and NC leader Ram Chandra Poudel -- unable to command a majority, 300 votes, in the current 599-member House.
While voices are becoming stronger that the current election process should be annulled and the process of forming a consensus government begun afresh, the Maoist establishment faction is unlikely to subscribe to the idea in wake of the vote for Dahal cast by 12 members of the Madhes-based parties in the third round.
The UML and Madhes-based parties, which are out of the prime ministerial race and have remained neutral in the voting, and the Baburam Bhattarai-led Maoist faction are for beginning the process anew.
"A new prime minister will not be elected this way. So both the candidates should withdraw and a new process begun," says UML General Secretary Ishwar Pokharel.
But the process cannot be annulled until the three major parties agree, and the Maoist establishment faction is unlikely to take such a decision unless Dahal himself will get a chance to become the next prime minister.
"We received more votes today than in the first round. And we will certainly get a majority in the coming rounds. So forget about annulling the current provision," says Maoist leader Shakti Basnet who thinks that since the coalition of the Madhes-based parties, United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), has split over the vote more of them will support the Maoists in the coming rounds.
But a UML leader argues it is just wishful thinking on the part of the Maoists as they still need 41 more votes. Perhaps the easiest way for Dahal would be to reach an agreement with other parties on the agenda of the peace process and constitution drafting and lead a consensus government.
"It would be hard for him to do that because of the intra-party power balance. But if he could do so, it will be a win-win situation. Otherwise, the deadlock will only continue," he says.
But the Madhesi leaders say more UMDF leaders will revolt and vote for the Maoists, and if the Maoists win the confidence of fringe political parties, they would certainly get a majority.
"We have created an environment for a Maoist-led government," says MPRF lawmaker Nandan Dutta.
Related story
Vote count resumes after 4 hours in Dharan Sub-metropolitan Cit...
_20191222200001.jpg)
