Nepalese parliament fails to elect prime minister for a second time

Jul 23, 2010, 16:10 GMT

Kathmandu - Nepal's parliament failed to elect a prime minister Friday after neither of the two candidates gained the required majority.

Maoist candidate Pushpa Kamal Dahal received 241 votes for, as to 113 votes against and 218 neutral votes. A tally of 300 votes was needed to win election.

His competitor, Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel, won 123 votes for, to 241 against and 214 neutral votes.

Speaker Subash Chandra Nembwang called the next parliamentary meeting for August 2, after the parliament failed to reach a decision on Friday.

Election of a new prime minister had become increasingly unlikely after the Nepalese politicians failed to strike an agreement earlier in the day.

The election of a prime minister, which was slated to take place in the afternoon, began after a delay of over six hours while parties squabbled.

The election went ahead even though it had become apparent that neither candidate would gain the majority needed to win, after the fringe parties decided not to back either candidate.

Madhes Front, comprising the four Terai-based political parties, decided to remain neutral, after they could not agree on a candidate to back. The party commands 82 seats in the 601-seat parliament.

The second largest party, the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), with 109 seats, also refrained from voting on Friday, saying it would only support the formation of a majority government.

Friday's re-election was ordered by the Speaker Subash Chandra Nembwang, after the politicians failed to elect a prime minister in the first round of election that took place on Wednesday.

'Nepali Congress and the Maoists should have an understanding for the consensus to work,' said Nilambar Acharya Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee.

'It will otherwise become difficult to bring other parties together. They must improve their relations first.'

With the failure of the parliament to elect a new prime minister, the political crisis deepened further in the Himalayan nation.

Nepal has been under a caretaker government since Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned on June 30, saying he was doing so to make way for political breakthrough, amid strident calls by the Maoists for his resignation.

The vote for prime minister comes after President Ram Baran Yadav ordered a majority government, after the parties failed to find a consensus for a National Unity government in the weeks following Nepal's resignation.