As the parties are not anywhere close to forming a consensus government and are also unlikely to request President Dr Ram Baran Yadav to extend the deadline for forming a consensus government, the president is likely to send a letter to the Speaker on Thursday asking him to start the election process to form a majority government. [break]
The president, following the prime minister´s resignation last week, called on the political parties in the Constituent Assembly (CA) to form a new government by July 7 on the basis of political understanding, as per Article 38(1) of the Interim Constitution.
But according to senior leaders involved in inter-party talks, the chances of forging a consensus by Wednesday are slim.
"I have informed the leaders that if I receive the letter from the president on Thursday, I will call the meeting of the BAC for the same day," Nembang told myrepublica.com, adding, "The meeting will fix the date for the election."
In the end, the political parties´ decision will prevail at the BAC meeting as the chief whips and whips, among other senior leaders from the parties represented in parliament, are BAC members.
If the parties fail to form a consensus government and don´t request a deadline extension, the president on Thursday will write to the parliament secretariat to elect a prime minister from a majority of the House as per Article 38(2) of the statute.
The provision says that failing at an understanding, the prime minister shall be elected by a majority of the existing members of the Legislature-Parliament.
The parties might request the president to allow further time for consensus if there is any progress in the talks. In such a situation, the head of state may extend the deadline by some four or five days for forging an understanding, as happened in 2008 when Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal became prime minister.
Unlike under the previous constitution, there is no third option for government formation. The constitution of 1990 had a provision under which the head of state would call the largest political party to form a minority government, in case of failure to form a majority government.
Asked if there is any possibility of forming a consensus government, a senior leader said, "the latest political scenario indicates that consensus is unlikely".
"However, we can´t rule out the possibility of the leaders requesting the president for some days more for forging consensus to show the people that they are working hard to that end," he added.
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