Voting to elect new Nepal PM postponed
The much-anticipated voting to elect Nepal’s new prime minister was deferred to Tuesday.
The parliamentary voting slated for Sunday was postponed after the main opposition CPNUML, led by former prime minister KP Sharma Oli, warned of obstructing the house to protest the election commission’s decision to conduct a repolling in Bharatpur Metropolitan City in Chitwan district.
Caretaker Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s daughter Renu Dahal is contesting for the mayoral post there and was trailing behind the UML’s candidate, Devi Gyawali.
The CPN-UML has been demanding that the election body resume counting of votes in Bharatpur Metropolitan City after it was stalled since the night of May 28, when two Maoist cadres tore up ballot papers at the counting centre.
On Thursday, it was found that as many as 90 ballot papers were torn when they were counted in the presence of election authorities and party representatives.
The election commission decided to hold a repolling, which the UML has been protesting in the House .
The Parliament meeting scheduled for Sunday morning was put off later after UML clearly stated that it would obstruct the proceedings.
After the top leaders failed to garner consensus, the meeting was postponed to Tuesday.
Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, the only candidate running for the prime minister’s post, has received support of most parties. When elected, the veteran politician would become the 40th prime minister of Nepal. The voting is a mere formality to pave his way for the position.
The local polls in Nepal are being held for the first time in 20 years. The next and final phase of the local polls is set for June 14, when the restive southern Terai region home to the ethnic Madhesi population, will vote.