Although with Dahal´s withdrawal only Nepali Congress (NC) candidate Ram Chandra Poudel remains in the race, the latter has to secure a majority vote in parliament to get elected to the country´s top executive post.[break]
Paudel has set a condition for withdrawing his candidacy. He said he would leave the field clear for Dahal once the Maoist chairman announces the complete detachment of his party from its army and arms.
Leaders from the UCPN-M and UML reached an agreement to stay out of the voting process. Dahal agreed to withdraw his candidacy upon request from UML leaders. In return, UML, the third-largest party which commands 109 votes in parliament, has accepted Dahal´s proposal to stay out of the race in the next round of voting. "The UML will not take part in the election process until the ongoing process is ended and a new process begun," reads the joint agreement.
Paudel will not be able to muster the 301 votes needed if both the UCPN-M and UML remain neutral. The largest party, UCPN-M, commands 237 votes in the 601-member parliament while the NC has just 114 members.
UML lawmakers have been casting their votes for a neutral position since the very first round of voting, as the party´s central committee has decided to vote only for a two-third majority government on the ground that a simple majority government can´t deliver peace and a constitution to the country.
Drawing the conclusion that the ongoing process cannot yield any positive result, the two parties agreed to persuade NC candidate Paudel to withdraw from the race so that the election process can start afresh on the basis of national consensus. Paudel has to either secure a majority vote or pull out from the race to terminate the rounds of voting. Otherwise, parliament must continue with the votings.
Addressing the inaugural function of the NC general convention, Dahal urged the NC rank and file to initiate dialogue on his decision to quit the PM race. "I have quit the race. Now it´s up to you to interpret my move and I urge you to discuss it during this convention," Dahal said at the mass gathering.
On the same occasion, Paudel said nowhere under democratic practice in the world has a prime minister been elected through consensus, barring few exceptions.
“It is a totally strange thing in the world to talk about electing the prime minister through consensus,” he said. “This could happen in one-party or party-less autocratic systems but it is not possible in a multi-party, competitive system. It is yet to be examined where such an exceptional trap will lead us.”
“It is yet to be seen how long our country will be entangled in this exceptional trap [of consensus] and where this process will come to an end.”
NC Acting President Sushil Koirala said the party was not against the Maoists leading the government if the latter abided by all the agreements reached in the past.
Setting aside their differences, UML leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Sharma Oli, among others, were present when the agreement with the Maoists was finalized. Of late, UML heavyweight Oli had been pressing the party leadership to change the party´s policy of standing neutral. He is for giving continuity to the present ruling democratic alliance while Khanal is for forming a consensus government with the Maoists on board.
Present at the time from the Maoist side were Vice-chairmen Mohan Baidya, Baburam Bhattarai and Narayankaji Shrestha, among others.
Maoist-UML Joint statement
- The futile rounds of voting held in parliament for up to a seventh time have left all self-respecting Nepalis worried. There cannot be a positive outcome through this process.
- Under the circumstances, prime ministerial candidate comrade Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" is to withdraw his candidacy and the UCPN (Maoist) will not participate in the ongoing election process, the objective being to forward a process of choosing a prime minister on the basis of national consensus.
- The CPN-UML will not participate in the election process until the present ends and a new one begins.
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