Nepal’s mainstream political parties on Sunday condemned dismissal of the government of caretaker PM Sher Bahadur Deuba and asked the regent to form a consensus government and make efforts to hold deferred parliamentary elections as soon as possible. In a meeting with the regent, Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala expressed his dissatisfaction over sacking of Deuba and postponement of elections as some of the clauses of the country’s Constitution were violated while making the royal proclamation. The party also demanded the reinstatement of the dissolved Parliament. Koirala told Gyanendra that the only way out of the present political crisis was to form a government of consensus by including representatives from the dissolved House under Article 128 of the Constitution with the view to hold elections, party spokesman Arjun Narsingh K C said. Nepal Communist Party (UML) general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and president of the National Democratic Party Surya Bahadur Thapa also held separate discussions with the king over the political situation arising after Deuba’s dismissal. The king, seen by political analysts as a hardliner against the rebels, said Deuba’s inability to hold elections as scheduled meant he should be removed from office. ‘‘The time frame for the new government has been clearly set,’’ the palace official said. ‘‘The ball is now in the court of the political parties. They have to decide if they want to cooperate and take the train on the right track. ‘‘If they don’t, His Majesty will anyway go ahead and appoint an interim government. Anyway a situation where we don’t have a government is only for five days and after that there will be a government.”
