The fourth round of prime ministerial election on Friday ended in a debacle again, with both the UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel failing to secure a majority. The next election has been scheduled for Aug. 18 at 3 p.m.
Dahal garnered 213 votes, 46 less than in the previous round. Poudel got 122 votes, two down from the third round. Two other major voting blocs—CPN-UML and Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM)— abstained for the fourth time. A dozen fringe parties including the CPN (ML) and RPP (Nepal) also stayed away from the polls.
The winning candidate had to secure 301 votes in the 601-member parliament. Two new Maoist lawmakers were sworn in to fill the vacant posts before Friday’s voting. The House saw the absence of 133 lawmakers when Dahal’s candidacy was put to the test. When the session convened, all 28 lawmakers of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Loktantrik) were busy at a Parliamentary Party meeting in Singha Durbar. The attendance increased to 561 when Poudel’s candidacy was put for vote.
Dahal was backed by Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, Nepal Pariwar Dal, Rastriya Janmukti Party, Nepa Rastriya Party, Sadhbhawana (Sarita Giri) and CPN-ML (Samajwadi), the new party that split from CPN-ML on Friday. Poudel got votes from Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Rastriya Janashakti Party.
Despite the fourth failure, both Dahal and Poudel have stood in favour of giving continuity to the ongoing prime ministerial race.
UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal said the Maoists and NC should review their position to end the current stalemate. “The failure to elect a majority government time and again means we should make a fresh start for national consensus,” said Khanal reiterating that UML wouldn’t support the formation of majority government even in the next election.
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