Nepal to elect new PM on July 21

With political parties failing to form a consensus government within deadline, Nepal is set to elect a new Prime Minister on July 21.

With political parties failing to form a consensus government within deadline, Nepal is set to elect a new Prime Minister on July 21.

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The business advisory committee of parliament decided the date on Tuesday. Nominations for the post would be accepted till July 20, informed Minister for Law Prem Bahadur Singh.

The move follows directions by President Ram Baran Yadav to the parliament secretariat to start the process to elect a new Prime Minister after the second deadline for government formation ended on Monday.

Following resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal last month, Yadav had asked political parties to form a government through consensus. But differences prevented that from happening.

As per provisions of the interim constitution, if the parties fail to form a consensus government, the Prime Minister is elected by parliamentarians by a two-third majority vote.

None of the 25 parties which are represented in parliament enjoys a clear majority. Maoists with more than one-third representation in the 601-member house, is the biggest party, followed by CPN-UML and Nepali Congress.