Nepal polls | Nepali Congress-led alliance maintains lead
The Hindu
Nepal’s top political leaders start efforts for government formation amid vote count
As the counting of votes in Nepal’s parliamentary election is on, the country’s top leaders have initiated efforts to explore possibilities for the formation of a new government to end the political instability that has plagued the Himalayan nation for more than a decade.
Elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and seven provincial assemblies were held on Sunday. The counting of votes started on Monday.
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (CPN-UML) chairman K. P. Oli on Thursday called CPN-Maoist Centre chairman Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda and the two leaders congratulated each other on getting elected to the HoR.
Prime Minister and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba also telephoned Mr. Prachanda and Mr. Oli to congratulate them on their victory. All three top leaders have been elected to the HoR after registering victories in the election.
During their telephonic conversation, Mr. Oli offered Mr. Prachanda to move ahead by forging collaboration in the process of forming the new government, a source close to Prachanda said.
However, Mr. Prachanda only congratulated Oli on winning the election with a huge margin but did not specifically respond to his offer. Mr. Prachanda said he will take an appropriate decision after all the election results are out, the source said.
After parting with Mr. Oli some 18-months ago, Mr. Prachanda took the side of Nepali Congress president Mr. Deuba and forged a five-party alliance government under the leadership of Mr. Deuba.
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