Nepal's President requests Parliament to elect new prime minister

Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav on Monday requested the Constituent Assembly (CA) to elect the country's prime minister as per the article 38(2) of Interim Constitution 2007. Nepal's CA will serve both as a constitution drafting body as well as Parliament. The head of the state made such call after the parties failed to form a national unity government as per the article 38(1) of the constitution. President Yadav had given one week's time for the formation of national unity government for the parties which expired on Sunday. "As the parties failed to form a national unity government through a political consensus, President has sent a letter to CA to elect a new prime minister of the country," the press statement issued by President's office on Monday afternoon reads. The President's office stated that as the CA has been already elected, it is a mater of urgency to form a new government. Unity government in Nepal means formation of government without election in the Parliament and there would not be opposition parties. The NC, a centrist party, has already said that its second priority is formation of majority government as per the article 38 (2) of interim constitution. The NC has selected its President Sushil Koirala as a prime ministerial candidate. The NC is holding talks with second largest party CPN-UML about the formation of the government. The third party UCPN (Maoist) has already announced to stay out the government and not attending the all-party meetings summoned by NC. After the President's letter, the Parliament Secretariat will start the process of election of the prime minister probably this week.