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Roundup: Nepalese president asks parties to form new gov't within a week

Xinhua, July 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

A day after the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from the post, Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Monday asked the political parties to form a new government based on consensus within a week.

The president called on the political parties inside the parliament to form a consensus government within a week in accordance with the Article 298 (2) of the new Constitution, the Office of the President said in a press statement on Monday evening.

Earlier in the day, President Bhandari issued an order to remove the constitutional hurdles with regard to electing a new prime minister under the Transitional Provisions of the new Constitution.

The president's move comes a day after the Oli-led government recommended President Bhandari to remove constitutional hurdles in forming the new government.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Sunday has asked the president to use the constitutional power in accordance with Article 305 of the Constitution to remove hurdles to pave way for the formation of the new government.

"Given the ambiguities in Clause 1 of Article 298 of the new Constitution which bars formation of the new government, the current government decided to recommend the president to remove such a constitutional hurdle," Minister for Tourism Ananda Pokharel told media.

Before asking parties to form the new government, President Bhandari had held consultations with top leaders of three major parties - Nepali Congress, CPN (UML) and the CPN (Maoist-Centre) - with regard to formation of the new government on Monday itself.

Local media reports suggested that Chairman of CPN (Maoist-Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal is highly likely to become the next prime minister of the country with the backing of Nepali Congress, the largest party in the Parliament.

"Our party's chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal will be at the helm of the new government as per our understanding with the Congress Party," a leader of the CPN (Maoist-Centre) Krishna Bahadur Mahara told media recently.

Mahara told media that Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist-Centre) are set to run the new coalition government based on the political understanding reached between the two parties some two weeks ago.

The 64-year-old prime minister had stepped down from the post at a Parliament session on Sunday, moments ahead of the no-confidence motion against him filed by major parties Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist-Centre) due to be put to a vote in the 601-member Parliament.

The Oli-led government, that came to power on October 11 last year, was reduced to minority in the Parliament after its major coalition partners - CPN (Maoist-Centre), Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Democratic (MJF-D) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) - pulled their support last week.

The CPN (Maoist-Centre) joined the government under Oli's leadership last October. Endit