In a significant judgement, Nepal's supreme court has ruled that lawmakers cannot 'abstain' from voting in the Prime Ministerial election nor can a candidate be declared elected unopposed just because he is the only candidate left in the electoral fray. A full bench of the apex court comprising justices Balaram, Sushila Karki and Bharat Raj Upreti Supreme Court ruled that decision by some parties to abstain or remain neutral in previous rounds of voting as unconstitutional. The apex court's ruling came in response to a public interest litigation filed by Advocate Chandra Kant Gyawali that challenged the lawmakers' neutral stance which led to repeated round of voting in the Prime Ministerial election without any outcome. AIR Kathmandu Correspondent reports that the apex court's ruling came two days before the special session of the parliament slated for Sunday. President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav convened the special session at the behest of Maoist and some smaller parties in the parliament to discuss formation of the new government through a fresh process by amending the parliamentary regulation. Nepali Congress has however opposed the move saying its candidate is still in the electoral race. Nepal's parliament could not elect a new Prime Minister even after 16 rounds of voting as the CPN (UML) and the Madheshi parties remained neutral in the voting process, later joined by the Maoists. The CPN (UML), who remained neutral in previous rounds of voting, has now decided to vote in future, raising hope of forming a new government.