Nepal President Rambaran Yadav has given political parties five more days to elect a new Prime Minister as they failed to meet the deadline that expired on Wednesday. The President took this step at the request of the political parties, said press advisor Rajendra Dahal.
A delegation of major political parties including the Nepali Congress,Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist CPN-UML and the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists UCPN-M met Rambaran Yadav,asking for more time.
UML chief Jhalanath Khanal has removed K P Oli as the convener of the coordination committee entrusted with the task of finding a consensus candidate. Khanal has been approaching various parties,including the UCPN-M,soliciting support in his favour.
Meanwhile,Nepali Congress general secretary K B Gurung offered his candidature for the PMs post and appealed to the UML and the UCPN-M to support him. Gurungs candidature amounts to defying unilateral decision by party working president Sushil Koirala that the party would field Ramchandra Poudel for PM.
The UCPN-M is also divided over the leadership issue with party chief Prachanda refusing to budge.