Maoists146; demand puts Nepal polls in doubt

Nepal's Prime Minister G P Koirala is facing a major crisis with the Maoists insisting on a complete switch to the proportional representation system of election...

Nepal8217;s Prime Minister G P Koirala is facing a major crisis with the Maoists insisting on a complete switch to the proportional representation PR system of election, backing out of the mixed system they had agreed to earlier. This puts the planned November 22 election to the constituent assembly in jeopardy.

The interim constitution, prepared by the coalition partners including the Maoists, provides for election of 240 members of the constituent assembly on first-past-the-post system, another 240 under the PR system and 17 to be nominated by the cabinet.

Koirala asked the Maoists not to insist for this 8220;impractical and dishonest8221; precondition with only about a week left for the nomination process to begin. But the seven-party meeting that Koirala called ended without any solution. To make things worse, 87 Maoist members of Parliament belonging to the Maoist-led groups gave a notice to the Parliament Secretariat demanding that a session be called so that they could move a resolution for declaring Nepal a republic and switching to the PR system of election.

8220;Yes, we have received the notice and it will take two to three weeks for the session to take place,8221; said an official.

This means that Maoists are not going to submit the list of their party8217;s candidates as asked by the Election Commission EC. 8220;We cannot go to the polls without PR system being accepted as the sole election model,8221; said C P Gajurel, party8217;s central committee member.

8220;We are reviewing the situation,8221; chief election commissioner Bhojraj Pokhrel told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the EC on Friday recognised Nepal Sadhbhavana Party Anandi Devi as the real party. That means Koirala will have to drop one of his ministers, Rajendra Mahato, who headed the party8217;s splinter group, from the cabinet.