Nepal's political parties step up efforts to form new government

Political parties in Nepal have stepped up efforts for the formation of a new government that will replace the incumbent government led by chief justice Khilraj Regmi, party leaders said on Thursday. Top leaders are busy in the intra-party and inter-party parleys for the formation of government as soon as possible with a purpose of drafting a new constitution within a year. The vote counting of the Nov. 19 election has reached the final stage, but it is almost sure that the Nepali Congress (NC), a centrist party of Nepal which has a history of 65 years, will emerge as the largest party. Two communist parties of CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) are all set to secure the second and third position in the Constituent Assembly (CA) election. NC President Sushil Koirala is holding discussion with other parties for the formation of a new government that is expected to draft a new constitution within a year and end the political instability of the Himalayan nation, which shares borders with giant neighbors China and India. The government formation process will gather further momentum soon after the final result of the election comes out on Friday. " As the largest party, a new government will be formed under our leadership," said NC General Secretary Prakash Man Singh on Thursday. The second party CPN-UML has also claimed the leadership of the government saying that a consensus government is possible under its leadership. The CPN-UML has also proposed a rotational leadership of the government by first and second parties respectively. With efforts about the formation of a new government, there are more than half-dozen cross-party leaders who are in race to become the future prime minister of Nepal. From NC, President Sushil Koirala, senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and Vice President Ram Chandra Poudel are competing to take the leadership of the new government. Deuba has already become the prime minister, while Koirala has not taken any top government position in his 50 years political career. Top NC leaders won the Nov. 19 elections. A top NC leader told the Xinhua with condition of anonymity that Party President Koirala himself will lead the future government. But, Koirala is saying that party's internal meeting will decide the name of prime minister. But, it is sure that Nepal's political parties will face intra-party bickering when it comes to the formation of government or selecting prime ministerial candidate. The CPN-UML also shares the same situation. Its top leaders Jhala Nath Khanal, Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Oli are competing to take the leadership of the government. Nepal and Khanal are the former prime ministers, while Oli is the former deputy prime minister. According to leaders, intra- party tussle is likely to emerge while selecting the prime ministerial candidate inside both parties. The UCPN (Maoist) which has secured the third position has not claimed the leadership of the government. The party is saying that there has been electoral fraud in the Nov. 19 election and that needs to be investigated and reviewed. The party is demanding to amend the interim constitution to regain the course of a consensus government rather than forming the government on the majority votes. But, NC and CPN-UML are saying that they are ready to forge consensus but it is not possible to make the consensus politics a part of new constitution. With the initiation for the formation of government, diplomatic missions in Nepal have also intensified their discussions with the leaders of major political parties. Ambassadors from various countries are meeting the top leaders of NC, CPN-UML and Maoist parties. Though the election is expected to bring political stability in Nepal, it is still unsure how to address the demands of CPN-Maoist, a breakaway faction of UCPN (Maoist), which boycotted the election process. Parties are mulling over different ways on how to incorporate the CPN-Maoist in the government and constitution drafting process. "We are ready to join the government and take part in the constitution drafting process if our demands are addressed," said CPN-Maoist Vice-Chairman CP Gajruel.