Nepali ruling party intensifies its negotiations to choose PM candidate as new govt deadline looms

The Nepali-Congress-led ruling coalition has intensified its negotiations to choose its prime ministerial candidate, as the deadline given by President Bidya Devi Bhandari comes closer, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) has also been making overtures to the coalition members including the Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre), coalition leaders are under pressure to strike a power-sharing deal among themselves.

Earlier, on Friday, Nepal's caretaker Prime minister Sher Shah Deuba held a meeting with Maoist Centre chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal where they agreed to lead the post-election government by turns, each wanting to be prime minister in the first half of the five-year term.

"They plan to meet again tomorrow," according to Bhanu Deuba, an aide to the prime minister, according to The Kathmandu Post.

On Wednesday, Deuba became the parliamentary party leader of the party after he defeated the party General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa in the election conducted.

Deuba received 64 votes to secure victory while the party's general secretary Gagan Thapa was able to garner 25 votes, The Kathmandu Post reported.

With the win, Deuba will be the Nepali Congress' candidate for the post of prime minister in the new government, as per the daily. Voting for Nepali Congress party parliamentary leader election was held with a 100 per cent turnover.

The 89 lawmakers of the Nepali Congress elected to the House of Representatives voted in the election to choose the party's parliamentary party leader.

Sher Bahadur Deuba and Gagan Thapa had filed their candidacy for the post after the race for the formation of the government started following the general election held on November 20.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has called on House members to form the government by December 25.

The Nepali Congress held elections to choose its parliamentary leader before the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected members.

Other Opposition parties in Nepal have all elected their Parliamentary Party leader unanimously. The opposition CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist) and the CPN-Maoist Center parliamentary leaders have been selected unchallenged.

The CPN-UML which broke into two factions a year and a half before the general election already presented the Party chairman and erstwhile Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli as its parliamentary party leader. Meanwhile, CPN-Maoist Center has chosen Pushpa Kamal Dahal as an unopposed or unchallenged party leader.

( With inputs from ANI )

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