Nepal's ruling alliance breaks down; 6 parties back Pushpa Kamal Dahal as next PM, says Maoist Center leader

Kathmandu: In a dramatic turnaround, Nepal's ruling coalition broke down after Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Center) failed to reach a power sharing agreement on who will be the prime minister in the first phase.

Meanwhile, a coalition of six parties has decided to back Nepal's Maoist Center Pushpa Kamal Dahal to form the next government and become the country's Prime Minister.

Oli calls party meet

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba who is also the incumbent prime minister and chairman of the CPN (Maoist Center) Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' were the frontrunners for the post of prime minister. 

After Nepali Congress refused to accept Prachanda as prime minister, Prachanda announced the breaking down of the alliance and reached to meet KP Sharma Oli, the chairman of the CPN-UML. Oli later hosted Prachanda at his residence.

Oli also called the meeting of other parties in order to form the new government probably under the leadership of Prachanda by this evening. Since no political party has received the majority in the November 20 elections, any party that will lead the new government needs the support of two or more than two political parties.

We tried to save the alliance but we couldn't, senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel said following the failure of talks between Deuba and Prachanda, we are left with empty hands now. If Prachanda becomes the prime minister, Nepali Congress is unlikely to get any major posts like President, Vice President, Speaker, Deputy Speaker and provincial governments in all seven provinces. 

Not only UML and Maoist Center are coming together, other small political parties like Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janamat Party, Janata Samajdai Party will extend support to Prachanda-led government. As of now, four political parties have supported Prachanda's bid. If UML agrees to support Prachanda as next prime minister, probably they will stake claim for the government formation by Sunday evening.

The new coalition

In the new coalition, the CPN-UML has 78, Maoist Center 32, Rastriya Swatantra Party 20, Rastriya Prajatantra Party 14, Janata Samajbadi Party 12, Janamat Party 6 and Nagarik Unmukti Party has 4 MPs in support of Prachanda. The total weightage is 166.

(with inputs from ANI)