Maoists fail yet again in Nepal PM race

[Lankan Ranger]

Maoists fail yet again in Nepal PM race

Belying hopes of a resolution, the seventh round of the deadlocked prime ministerial poll in Nepal failed yet again on Tuesday. Although there was expectation that Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal could win with support from some Madhesi parties he failed to secure the 300 votes needed for victory.

Dahal secured support of 252 lawmakers (10 more than sixth round) while 110 voted against him and 159 remained neutral.

The second candidate—Nepali Congress vice president Ram Chandra Poudel secured 119 votes in favour, 245 MPs voted against him and 151 remained neutral.

Nepali lawmakers will again attempt to elect the next prime minister after a gap of 18 days on September 26.

Maoists were hoping for a win on Tuesday as there was indication that 25 MPs from Madhesi Janadhikar Forum would vote for Dahal.

The MJF had broken away from United Democratic Madhesi Forum, a group of four Madhesi parties with 82 lawmakers, ahead of the sixth round of voting saying it wanted to end the deadlock.

But the Maoist hopes were dashed as MJF remained neutral in today’s voting. The three other constituents of UDMF with 57 lawmakers also took a neutral stance like earlier occasions.

The decision of UDMF as well as CPN-UML (108 votes) to remain neutral in the prime ministerial election is the main reason why there has been no way out of the impasse even after seven rounds of voting.

Nepal is in the process of electing its 34th prime minister after Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned in June to make way for a coalition government based on consensus among the major parties.

Maoists fail yet again in Nepal PM race - Hindustan Times

 

[SpArK]

 

[SpArK]

Dogged by taints, Maoists lose Nepal PM poll again



KATHMANDU: Reeling under the double whammy of bribery allegations and a lawmaker receiving life term for murder, Nepal's Maoist party lost Tuesday's prime ministerial election, for the seventh time in a row, plunging the country into a deeper political crisis.

Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who had led a successful 10-year war against the monarchist government and won the prime ministership with a thumping majority just two years ago, could muster only 252 votes for the same post Tuesday.

He fell far short of the halfway mark of 300 in the currently 599-member parliament, despite speculation that he would this time be able to break into the Terai vote bank.

While 110 MPs voted against him, 159 MPs continued to abstain, leading to his staggering seventh defeat.

Since the fall of his eight-month government last year and the growing controversies about his party, the former revolutionary has failed to recapture his victory over his challenger, former deputy prime minister Ram Chandra Poudel of the Nepali Congress -- a failure that the Maoists blame on "Indian intervention".

The election, started last month after Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned June 30, has remained inconclusive all through two months with two of the largest groups in the house deciding to stay neutral in protest.

But while the prime minister's Communist party of Nepal-Marxist Leninist with its 109 MPs said it would still stay neutral, there was doubt about the front of four regional parties from the Terai plains, whose 82 lawmakers could have helped Prachanda return to power.

Though the Terai front too has been sitting neutral, last time one of their partners decided to break away, declaring to vote and end the protracted political crisis.

Led by former foreign minister Upendra Yadav, the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum Nepal with its 25 MPs, was regarded as ready to back the Maoists.

However, greater Terai support became debatable after an audio tape surfaced last week, purportedly recording Maoist MP Krishna Bahadur Mahara seeking NRS.500 million from an unnamed "friend" in China to buy 50 MPs needed to shore up Prachanda.

Though the Maoists have denounced the tape as "a fake" circulated to discredit them before the crucial election, there is now a growing demand by the ruling parties for an investigation.

The parliamentary party of the Nepali Congress Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, urging him to start a speedy investigation into the allegation of horsetrading.

The council of ministers Monday also decided to form an inquiry committee after consultations with the chairman of parliament, Subas Nembang.

In yet another major embarrassment for the Maoists, another of their lawmakers, Balkrishna Dhungel, hit the headlines this week after being convicted of murder.

Dhungel was found guilty of the murder of Ujjwal Kumar Shrestha in Okhaldhunga district during the Maoists' "People's War". Though the killing occurred nearly 12 years ago, the Supreme Court found him guilty this year and on Sunday, released the full verdict, sentencing the Maoist MP to life imprisonment.

The verdict has triggered a growing public debate. It is now being asked if Dhungel can remain an MP.

There are calls for him to be stripped of his position though the Maoists are claiming immunity on the ground that the ruling parties agreed to drop most criminal cases involving Maoists when they signed a peace deal in 2006.

As the country remains without a government for over two months, there is growing doubt about the peace process and the parties' ability to promulgate a new constitution in May 2011.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will table a report on Nepal before the Security Council in New York.

The election fiasco will cast a shadow over Nepal's credibility and may lead to the Security Council deciding to withdraw from the peace process.

In 2007, the UN became a partner in it when its political agency, the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) was asked to monitor the arms and combatants of the Maoists' people's Liberation Army as well as the Nepal Army.

Though the PLA was to have been disbanded within six months, nearly 20,000 guerrillas are still kicking their heels in makeshift cantonments and the UNMIN's tenure, extended six times, expires Sep 15.

The ruling parties have fallen out with the UN agency, calling it biased towards the Maoists and seeking to take the army off its supervision.

In a warning issued on the eve of the Security Council meeting, the UN chief said he was not in favour of repeated extensions for the UNMIN "in an atmosphere of persistent and unfounded criticism that complicates its ability to function".

Calling the situation in Nepal not conducive to sustained engagement, Ban is recommending that the current mandate of the UNMIN be reviewed with a duly formed government.

 

[gogbot]

Non-Indian source for those of you who will eventually demand one

Nepal parliament fails to elect Prime Minister even after fifth round voting | Asian Tribune

Nepal parliament fails to elect Prime Minister even after fifth round voting


Tue, 2010-08-24 13:16 — editor

* Nepal

Kosh R. Koirala Reporting From Nepal
Kathmandu, 24 August, (Asiantribune.com):

Nepal parliament failed to elect new Prime Minister even after the fifth round of voting held on Monday.

The parliament failed to elect successor of Madhav Kumar Nepal after both the candidates --- Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress Vice President Ram Chandra Poudel --- in the race failed to garner sufficient votes to get elected to the post.

The candidates failed to secure majority votes in the 601-member parliament as the third largest party CPN-UML and the alliance of four Madhesi-parties -- United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) – chose to stay neutral yet again.

While Maoist prime ministerial candidate Dahal secured a total 246 votes in his favor his opponent Poudel secured 111 votes. Remaining others of the total 567 lawmakers present in the voting on Monday opted for 'no vote' section in the ballot paper.

With its failure to elect new prime minister, parliament is set to hold sixth round of voting for prime minister on September 5. A meeting of the parliamentary Business Advisory Committee (BAC) made a decision to this effect.

Amid mounting pressure from the main opposition party Maoist, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal tendered his resignation on July 1. Since then there have been already five rounds of voting in the parliament to choose his successor, but with no results yet.

- Asian Tribune -

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I thinks Nepal's Stability is in question once again
But at least it is better than Civil war.

 

[hellofriends]

Nepal Maoists allege India behind Chinese bribe tape

Kathmandu, Sep 5

Facing a growing public debate in Nepal on whether the opposition Maoist party had sought NRS 500 million from friends in China to bribe over four dozen MPs ahead of a crucial election Sunday, the former rebels have retaliated by blaming the country they love to hate - India.

The retaliation comes after the appearance of an audio tape that purportedly caught Maoist lawmaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara in a telephonic conversation with a male caller.

The caller indicated a friend in China was willing to pay NRS 500 million to buy 50 MPs from ethnic parties to vote for Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda in Sundays prime ministerial election.

On Sunday, the Maoists began a counterattack, saying Indias external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was behind the tape.

"RAW made and distributed the fake news audio tape," the Maoist mouthpiece Janadisha daily said Sunday in a front-page article.

It claimed that after it had become certain that the Maoists, the largest party in parliament, were going to win Sundays election, the RAW distributed the tape among Nepals media and pressured them to broadcast it as "another weapon" to foil a Maoist victory.

It also alleged that the tape was an attempt to split the Maoists. The daily quoted Mahara as saying that the bribery slur was unbelievable as it was not the policy of his party to buy MPs.

Mahara, the current foreign affairs chief of the party, said there was growing speculation in Nepals "lanes and by-lanes" that the tape was the handiwork of India and smacked of an attempt to deliberately drag China into the dispute.

The Maoist lawmaker, who returned from a trip to China recently, said he discussed the tape with the Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Qiu Guohong, and the envoy assured him that the furore would not affect Chinas relations with the Maoists.

Despite Maharas claim that his party was assured of victory in Sundays election, indications were that even the unprecedented sixth round of vote to elect a new premier for Nepal, over two months after Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned, would end in a fiasco.

The ruling Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) said it would not vote, just as it had abstained in the earlier rounds.

A front of four ethnic parties from the Terai plains - who have been also dragged willy-nilly into the MP sale scandal - has also decided not to vote.

Also, despite the Maoist denial that they were planning to buy votes, there have been growing allegations from the parties themselves that the former rebels were "capable of doing anything to come to power".

Just before the tape scandal erupted, a fringe Communist party leader had alleged that he was offered NRS 50 million to vote for Prachanda.

C.P. Mainalis Communist Party of Nepal-Marxist Leninist was split during the prime ministerial polls with the breakaway faction voting for the Maoists.

Nepal Maoists allege India behind Chinese bribe tape