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Race is on to form new govt

Following the election of president and vice president, the race to form the new government has started.

The decks have been further cleared with the formal resignation of prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala – who tendered his resignation to president Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, moments after the latter took oath of office, Wednesday.

The election of chairman of Constituent Assembly (CA), too, is likely to take place on Thursday with Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) candidate Subas Nemwang set to be elected unopposed.

The three-party alliance among Nepali Congress (NC), UML and Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) has divided president, vice president and CA chair among themselves.

But top leaders of the three parties have still said that the Maoists – being the largest party – should take initiative to lead the government.

Speaking at a programme in Pokhara, Wednesday, UML general secretary Jhal Nath Khanal urged Maoists to lead the government. “They cannot stay out of the government as they are the largest party,” he said.

His remarks have come amid statements by Maoist leaders that they will not stake a claim to form the government.

“As was seen during the presidential election, the three-party alliance has majority. So, we are morally unable to stake claim to lead the government anymore,” Maoist chairman Prachanda had said on Tuesday. “But our decision not to form the government is not absolute. We can consider it in case the unholy alliance is broken,” he said.

Analysts believe that the newly elected president could soon urge the largest party to form the government. nepalnews.com sd Jul 24 08