Democracy News

Political Deadlock Continues As Nepalese Government Fails to Elect New Prime Minister
August 2, 2010
By: Randi Zung | Printer Friendly

Since instituting a democratic style of government in 1991, the country of Nepal has failed to succeed at establishing lasting political stability.  Recently, the ever-present political crisis in Nepal continues to deepen as the main political parties – the Maoists, the Nepali Congress, and the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) – failed to reach a consensus over who should head the new government.  Following a countrywide strike in May 2010, the Maoists – the Unified Communist Party of Nepal – re-entered the political mainstream after they demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and his UML coalition government.  Former Prime Minister Nepal later resigned in early July 2010. In the last two years, two of Nepal’s governments have collapsed as a result of political infighting between the country’s competing political parties.

Since Nepal’s resignation, the country’s 601-member parliament has twice voted to elect a new prime minister without success, Voice of America reported.  The leading candidates - Maoist leader Prachanda and Nepalese Congress candidate Ram Chandra Poudel - have both failed to win a majority of votes largely due to disagreement over the future of 20,000 former Maoist fighters who are currently detained in United Nations camps.  The Maoists would like their former fighters integrated into the country’s army, but the other political parties are against the move.  As a result of failing to elect a new prime minister, the political deadlock has halted the parliament’s main task of drafting a new constitution.  The parliament was given a one year extension to write a new constitution after it missed the original May 28, 2010 deadline.

According to Indian media outlet Zee News, the international community is worried that Nepal’s current political situation will unravel the country’s 2006 peace accord that ended a decade-long civil war between the Maoists and government forces.  The Maoist initiated war – which according to the United Nations resulted in the deaths of approximately 13,000 people – was started with the intent to abolish the country’s monarchy and establish Nepal as a republic. 

For previous news on Nepal, please see:
http://ccd21.org/news/asia/nepal_assembly_renewal.html

Sources:
Voice of America - Nepal Faces Political Crisis as Parties Fail to Agree on New Government

Zee News - Indian among top envoys push Nepal parties to end deadlock

Also See:
BBC Country Profile - Nepal