Nepal's CPN-UML leader Dahal files nomination for Prime Ministerial election

Kathmandu, August 14 : Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday filed his nomination for the Prime Ministerial elections, scheduled for Friday.

He is got the support from his party and Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF).

According to Kantipur, Dahal registered his nomination at the Constituent Assembly secretariat this evening following the signing of a seven-point deal between the Maoists, UML and MPRF in a meeting at the UML parliamentary party office at Singha Durbar.

UML General Secretary Jhala Nath Khanal proposed Dahal's candidacy, while MPRF Coordinator Upendra Yadav supported the proposal.

Dahal, the Chairman of the largest party in the Constituent Assembly (CA) is almost certain to become the first post-republican Prime Minister with the backing from the third and the fourth largest parties.

Likewise, Nepali Congress, the second largest party in the CA, has fielded former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for the Prime Minister's post.

Nepali Congress Vice-President Ram Chandra Poudel has proposed Deuba's candidacy and the party General Secretary Bimelandra Nidhi has supported Deuba's nominations.

The Nepali Congress parliamentary party meeting today elected Deuba as its parliamentary leader and decided to field him as their candidate for the PM.

Earlier today, the UML and MPRF had declined the Nepali Congress's proposal to support them to form a new government led by the party president Girija Prasad Koirala.

The major parties had failed to forge an agreement to form a national unity government after the Maoists and the Nepali Congress locked horns over the allocation of the Defence Ministry.

The Nepali Congress had stuck to their claim on the Defence Ministry, saying that the ministry was crucial for them to take the peace process to a logical end which had been led the party since its beginning.

ANI