Hectic consultations in Nepal to elect new Prime Minister

Kathmandu, Nov 25: In Nepal, the Baburam Bhattarai led government on Sunday said that the President's call to form a consensus government was against the spirit of the Interim Constitution.

Prasar Bharati Correspondent in Kathmandu reports that a special meeting of the Cabinet on Sunday in Kathmandu held that the move of the president to write to the government was unconstitutional.

Minister for Information and Communication Raj Kishor Yadav said the cabinet decided to formally write to the President stating that he does not have executive power and can only take a decision on the recommendation of the Cabinet.

An alliance of the ruling parties Federal Democratic Alliance on Saturday had termed the President's call to from a national consensus government under Article 38(1) as unconstitutional.

President Ram Baran Yadav on Friday had fixed 29th November deadline for warring parties to come up with a Prime Ministerial candidate and form a national consensus government.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Parties have welcomed the President's move to call for a consensus government with a new Prime minister.

Since the dissolving of the Constituent Assembly six months ago there has been a crisis as the political parties have stuck to their stand with ruling parties wanting a package deal on solving the deadlock while the Opposition had been calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Bhattarai.

Meanwhile, major political parties in Nepal began hectic consultations to find a way out of the ongoing crisis as the seven-day deadline set by President Ram Baran Yadav to elect a new prime minister approaches.