Pushpa Kamal Dahal presented a claim for the post of Prime Minister in Nepal; Leaving Deuba, took support from Oli

There was a dramatic turn in the politics of Nepal on Sunday. The ruling coalition here suffered a setback when Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-Maoist Center President Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' could not agree on the post of PM. After this the opposition CPN-UML and other smaller parties extended their support to Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Dahal met the President and handed over his PM candidature application to him.

Actually, an important meeting of the ruling coalition took place on Sunday. In this, the four parties of the makeshift coalition government were about to reach an agreement regarding the formation of the new government, but no decision could be taken. An agreement could not be reached between Prime Minister Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal regarding the post of PM. Meanwhile, former PM Prachanda broke ties with the ruling coalition.

Then Prachanda reached Oli, after this Pushpa Kamal Dahal reached former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. In an important meeting here, the opposition CPN-UML, CPN-Maoist Centre, Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and other smaller parties led by Oli agreed to form the government under the leadership of Prachanda. CPN-UML, CPN-MC and other parties submitted a claim under Article 76(2) of the Constitution for Prachanda to become the PM with signatures of 165 MPs at the President's Office Sheetal Niwas. This was confirmed by CPN-MC general secretary Deb Gurung.

Earlier, no decision could be taken in the ruling coalition meeting. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar. In this, the government formation agreement between the coalition parties was about to be sealed. The main issue in this was who would lead the government first. Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari had asked the coalition parties to stake claim to form the new government by Sunday. Meanwhile, senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Paudel has said that former PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has parted ways with the ruling coalition. He said the Maoist Center has withdrawn support from the ruling coalition. This time Prachanda has reached the private residence of CPN-UML President KP Sharma Oli to seek support to become Prime Minister.

Dahal walked out of the meeting Pushpa Kamal Dahal walked out during the coalition meeting. He directly reached out to the Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. After this, the press secretary of the Maoist Center confirmed the news of Dahal's exit and said that there was no agreement in the meeting. 

Prachanda wants to lead a coalition government, while the Nepali Congress is adamant on leading the government as the single largest party. The political drama is on in full swing in Kathmandu. After Prachanda's intention came to the fore, it was speculated in political circles that all is not well within the ruling coalition. Both Deuba and Dahal, who were re-elected leaders of the Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party, were trying their best to vie for the prime minister's post. Both the leaders had agreed that they would remain Prime Minister for two-and-a-half years each in a five-year term. Now both want to get this post first.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari had set a deadline for the alliance to recommend a name for the prime minister within 7 days. It ended at 5 pm (local time) on Sunday. President Bhandari had asked the parties to unanimously agree on a prime ministerial candidate under Article 76(2) of the Constitution.

According to party sources, after talks with Prime Minister Deuba failed, Prachanda reached the private residence of CPN-UML president KP Sharma Oli to seek his support to become prime minister. Talks went on at former Prime Minister Oli's residence in Balakot. The Nepali Congress is the largest party in the House of Representatives with 89 seats, while the CPN-UML has 78 and the CPN-MC has 32. Besides Prachanda, Janata Samajwadi Party president Upendra Yadav, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party president Rajendra Lingden and Rashtriya Swatantra Party president Ravi Lamichhane also reached Oli's residence to attend the joint meeting.

Since the meeting, speculations were rife that these parties would stake claim to form a new government after reaching an agreement on sharing of power and important posts. Meanwhile, CPN (MC) leader Barshaman Pun also informed that the six-party alliance has decided to project Pushpa Kamal Dahal as the PM of the next government. The agreement has been sealed. Dahal will lead the government for two-and-a-half years and CPN-UML leaders will lead the government for two-and-a-half years.

Meanwhile, according to a senior CPN-MC leader, a new government is unlikely to be formed by Sunday and the parties may need more time for power-sharing talks. No party has the 138 seats needed to form a government in the 275-member House of Representatives.

The deadline given by President Bidya Bhandari to political parties to form a coalition government under Article 76(2) of the Constitution ends on Sunday evening. If the parties fail to meet the deadline, the President will either extend the deadline or call the largest party to form the government under Article 76(3) of the Constitution. In such a situation, the Prime Minister will have to prove his majority within 30 days.

The newly formed Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) got 20 seats, the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party 14, the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) 12 and the Janmat Party six. The CPN (Unified Socialist) has 10 seats. Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) has four seats and Nagrik Immunti Party has three seats. Rashtriya Janamorcha and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party have one seat each. The lower house consists of five independent members.