Nepal President directs Constituent Assembly to elect PM

Kathmandu, August 10 : Following failure of the Maoists to garner a simple majority in the last ten days, Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav on Sunday directed the Constituent Assembly (CA) to take initiatives for forming a new government through vote.

The Maoists have 227 seats, short of 73 for the simple majority, in the 601-strong Constituent Assembly.

Dr Yadav, in a letter, has asked to form the government with the simple majority in the Constituent Assembly.

The President's move has come in the wake of the Maoists' failure to form the government in a week's time given by him.

The parties could not reach a consensus even after extending three days for that purpose.

Earlier the Maoists had refused to support Nepali Congress (NC) chief Girija Prasad Koirala for the post of President and the Maoists' candidates were defeated in the contest for Presidential and Vice-Presidential posts.

The Maoists want all the important portfolios of Government including the Primeministership.

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress had set seven-point-pre-conditions for the former rebels, including the disbanding of Young Communist League and return of seized property during the ten-year-long insurgency.

ANI