Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav has made an official appeal to political parties to form a consensus government within one week to end the ongoing political crisis in the country.
Issuing a statement on Friday, Yadav asked parties to name a prime minister though consensus and form a
national unity government comprising all parties within 4:00 pm, November 29.
“The President has appealed to all parties to select a prime minister and form a new government through consensus within the given deadline,” said Hari Kumar Shrestha, spokesperson to the President’s office.
The move comes a day after Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai made a fresh appeal for consensus and expressed willingness to make any sacrifice through a televised address to the nation.
Yadav’s deadline is expected to end the continuing differences between the government and opposition since dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in May that plunged the country to a fresh crisis.
In the statement, Yadav cited provisions of the interim constitution and failure of political parties to resolve the political and constitutional crisis and name a new prime minister as reasons behind his move.
As per Article 38 (1) of the interim constitution, the President can issue a directive to political parties to form a government through consensus within a certain deadline.
If they fail to adhere to that time limit, the President can write to the parliament to form a new government through majority vote.
But since Nepal doesn’t have a parliament at present there is confusion on what would happen if the parties fail to stick to the November 29 deadline given by Yadav.
The President has been urging political parties in recent weeks to resolve the crisis through consensus and had given them a deadline till November 22 to reach an agreement.
Friday’s statement comes a day after expiry of the earlier deadline for elections announced by the Maoist-Madhesi coalition prior to dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.