In Nepal, the CPN (UML) has renewed its call to the two Prime Ministerial candidates – Unified CPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda and Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel – to withdraw from the electoral race ahead of the fifth round of voting scheduled on Wednesday. Talking to newsmen after the parliamentary party meeting held in Kathmandu today UML leader Surendra Pandey said the meeting decided to initiate a move to amend the parliamentary regulation on election of the Prime Minister and submit a memorandum to the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly to put an end to the current process of election by majority vote. The parliamentary party meeting of the ruling CPN (UML) comes two days ahead of the fifth round of voting to elect a new Prime Minister on 18th of this month. Unified CPN(Maoist Chairman Prachanda and Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel are in the electoral fray.Meanwhile, senior leaders of Nepali Congress led by the party's Acting President Sushil Koirla today met the care-taker Prime Minister and senior CPN(UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal to garner his party's support to the Nepali Congress candidate Ram Chandra Poudel in the fifth round of the Prime Ministerial election slated on 8th of this month.Majority of the UML lawmakers participating in the discussion were of the view that the party should continue with its neutral stand in the coming fifth round of voting on Wednesday to exert pressure on forming a consensus government stating that a majority government would not help in achieving the two main national agenda of concluding the peace process and writing of the new constitution.CPN(UML) had abstained from voting in all the four rounds of voting along with the four Tarai parties that could not succeed in electing a new Prime Minister even more than forty-five days after Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned from his post.
News On AIR | August 16, 2010 6:10 PM
Nepal PM Election: CPN (UML) asks Prachanda, Poudel to withdraw from PM race