Nepal PM offers to resign to avert political crisis

Kathmandu, May 29(ANI): In a bid to end the political crisis over the formation of a constituent assembly, Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has offered to resign.

Madhav Kumar said that he would step down in a last-minute bid to secure the support of Maoist lawmakers for a bill to extend parliament's term, which was due to end Friday and leave the country without a functioning legislature.

Nepal's Parliament has passed the eight Amendment Bill of the Interim Constitution of Nepal, which will extend the Constituent Assembly's (CA) term by a year.

Out of the 585 lawmakers who attended the meeting, 580 voted for the Amendment Bill, while five voted against.

The opposition Maoist party won elections in 2008 and took power for nine months, abolishing Nepal's 240-year-old Hindu monarchy and turning the country into a secular republic. (ANI)