About half a dozen leaders of the Nepali Congress, which has emerged as the single largest party in Nepal's parliamentary polls, have expressed their desire to become the country's next prime minister, amidst growing pressure on the party to transfer the leadership to the younger generation.
Even as the leaders of the ruling five-party alliance intensified efforts to form a new government, it will take a few more days before the final results of the House of Representatives and seven provincial assembly elections held on November 20 are announced.
Half a dozen leaders within the Nepali Congress (NC), which has so far won 53 seats under the direct voting system, have expressed their aspirations to become the next prime minister, My Republica newspaper reported.
So far results of 158 seats have been declared. The ruling alliance led by the NC is moving towards a clear majority, allowing them to form a new government. The counting of votes is almost complete, with the results of six seats yet to be announced.
A party needs at least 138 seats to form a majority government in the 275-member House of Representatives.
The five-party ruling alliance, which includes the NC, CPN-Maoist Centre, CPN-Unified Socialist, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janamorcha has a combined strength of 85 seats in the HoR under direct election, followed by the Opposition CPN-UML alliance with 57 seats.
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is also the NC's president, discussed the issue of the government formation with Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” and Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Following discussions with Prachanda and Nepal, Deuba agreed to continue the current alliance and move forward for the economic development and prosperity of the country by including other parties in the process.
Sources claim that the top leaders of the three parties concluded that the electoral coordination was partially successful in the recently held elections. They also claimed that the leaders are unanimous that after the results of the election, they will discuss the formation of the government at the centre and provincial level as well as other issues and move forward by forging an agreement.
With the continuation of the current coalition, it is estimated that there is a strong possibility that 76-year-old Deuba can become the Prime Minister again and that he will be elected as the leader of the NC parliamentary party.
However, NC's Ram Chandra Paudel (78), Prakash Man Singh (66), Shashank Koirala (64), and 46-year-old General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa are likely to challenge Deuba's bid to become the Prime Minister for the sixth time.
