Jhalanath Khanal elected PM

Sadichhya Shakya
Thapatali.kathmandu

Ending seven months of impasse, the parliament on Thursday elected Jhalanath Khanal as the prime minister after UCPN Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in a surprising move, withdrew his candidacy and his party voted for Khanal.

The 34th prime minister of Nepal, Khanal secured 368 votes against 122 of his nearest rival Ram Chandra Paudel. Another candidate Bijaya Gachchhadar bagged 67 votes. Khanal, 61, is the third leader from the CPN-UML to reach to the top executive post of the country. Late Manmohan Adhikari was the first prime minister from the party while outgoing Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal was the second.

Earlier, the parliament had failed to elect a new prime minister despite 16 rounds of votes since the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led government stepped down on June 30 last year.


As he saw no possibility of him being elected, Dahal withdrew his candidacy following a decision of the Maoist standing committee held just ahead of the election. "I sensed I am not going to win this election," said Dahal while announcing his withdrawal, adding that he took the decision to sacrifice to the nation.

"There was a situation that the election could bring no result again. I analyzed the situation seriously throughout last night and foresaw a danger of this election also bringing no result," said Dahal in an address to the parliament. "People have started slapping leaders. And if a prime minister is not elected even today, people will throw shoes at us," Dahal said justifying his withdrawal from the race.
sadichhya shkaya
Thapathali,kathmandu


In his lengthy speech in the parliament, Dahal further added that his decision would lay foundation for forwarding the peace process and constitution-writing. "This will set the peace process and constitution-writing on motion," Dahal said. Addressing the parliament before his election, Khanal urged all parties to support him.

Ram Chandra Paudel in his speech at parliament criticized Dahal and Khanal without pronouncing their names. "The word consensus has been misused to serve one’s vested interest," said Paudel, adding, "This [UML-Maoist] dramatic alliance cannot reflect the spirit of consensus."

Paudel´s statement was a reference to Khanal and Dahal who had repeatedly emphasized on formation of a consensus government before the Nepal-led majority government stepped down.

Gachchhadar, for his part, questioned the Khanal-Dahal alliance. "If your were going to forge this alliance now, why did you not do it six months ago instead of orchestrating his long drawn-out drama?" he said.