With 72 hours to go before the deadline ends to choose a new Prime Minister,political parties continue to be divided on picking respective candidates for the post. Bahadur Rayamajhi,standing committee member of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN-M) Sunday said Prachanda was not the Prime Ministerial candidate of the party. All that we have said is the government should be led by the UCPN-M and who should be leading the government is something the party has yet to decided, he said. Rayamajhi is a supporter of top leader Baburam Bhattarai also in the race for the post. Party sources,however,said Prachanda commands solid support from the Young Communist League and Peoples Liberation Army. Like the UCPN-M,the Nepali Congress,is also divided on who it should field. At least two general secretaries and a prominent working committee member questioned the right of Sushil Koirala,working President of the party,to unanimously decide that parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Paudel would be the candidate. This is something the Congress parliamentary board had to decide, party general secretaries K B Gurung,Bimalendra Nidhi and working committee member Govinda Raj Joshi said. This diminishes chances of Paudel being fielded as the Prime Ministerial candidate as he seems to have the support of only three out of eight members . To complicate matters,the chairman of the Comunist Party of Nepal (CPN-UML) Jhalanath Khanal also did a volte-face. Khanal said Maoists cannot lead the government as long as they possess arms. Prachanda had earlier told Khanal that in case he was not accepted as the new PM,his party would back Khanal. Veteran leader Bal Bahadur Rai dies KATHMANDU: Veteran leader of the Nepali Congress Bal Bahadur Rai,who had on previous occasions performed the task of acting prime minister,on Sunday passed away at a hospital in Kathmandu. Rai,90,was suffered from various ailments including Kidney failure. The former minister has been associated with the Nepali Congress since its inception. He has also served under various ministries. The Nepali Congress party has expressed its condolence. PTI
