E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, JAN 09 -

The winter session of the parliament beginning on Sunday afternoon is expected to resume the six-month old prime ministerial election process that hasn’t delivered a winner so far. The last session was   prorogued after a fracas wherein Finance Minister Surendra Pandey was attacked by the main opposition UCPN (Maoist).

Speaker Subas Nembang will  announce the date of the 17th round of prime ministerial election. The House meet at 4 p.m. will also endorse a condolence motion on the demise of CPN-UML lawmaker Dambar Bahadur Khadka.  It decide the issue of Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel’s candicacy for PM in its second sitting that will convene on Wednesday. Sixteen bids to elect a prime minister have failed following  Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s resignation last June. UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-UML are dead against voting for Poudel, the sole candidate in the race for the post of prime minister.

“The parties have two alternatives. Either elect a prime minister through the ongoing process or terminate it and make a fresh start,” said CA Chairman Subas Nembang. 

Last week, Speaker Nembang told top leaders of the NC that he would scrap Poudel’s candidacy if he is defeated by a majority in the House. He cited a Supreme Court’s ruling against abstention during the voting for prime minister and  mandatory requirement for a simple majority to obtain the prime ministerial helm.

The Maoists and UML agree  Poudel should pull out of the race but they are yet agree on a new power sharing deal. after the House opens, the three major parties will  meet Sunday in a bid for consensus.

According to officials at the Parliament Secretariat, transition to the new phase of election will not be easy if there is no new agreement among parties. “They should amend the provisions in the Parliamentary Rules of Procedures before starting a new procedure,” said Tek Prasad Dhungana, the Chief Legal Advisor to the Constituent Assembly Secretariat.

“They should decide whether to try for a consensus government as envisaged by clause 38 (1) of the Interim Constitution or go directly for forming a majority government as per clause 38(2) before starting the new process,” he added. 

 

Posted on: 2011-01-09 09:01

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