Prachanda ready to withdraw from PM race

Aug 13, 2010 |

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Aug. 12: In a surprise move, Maoist supremo Prachanda on Thursday agreed to withdraw from the prime ministerial race if his Nepali Congress rival Ram Chandra Poudyal also agrees to quit, according to a deal being worked out by CPN-UML to end the six-week long political deadlock.

“The Maoist chairman Prachanda has agreed to the proposal forwarded by CPN-UML to withdraw his candidacy for the sake of national consensus if his rival candidate from Nepali Congress also withdraws,” Jhal Nath Khanal, the president of the third larges party CPN-UML, which leads the caretaker coalition, said.

The unexpected move by the Maoists comes even as they have claimed the right to lead a new coalition by virtue of being the single-largest party with 238 MPs in the 601-strong Constituent Assembly.

The proposal comes ahead of the fifth round of voting on August 18 in Parliament to elect a new Prime Minister after incumbent Madhav Kumar Nepal quit on June 30 amid intense Maoists pressure.

Prachanda, deputy chairman Baburam Bhattarai and senior leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha were present at the meeting, he said. The CPN-UML had forwarded the proposal during its Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Wednesday, asking both Mr Prachanda and Mr Poudyal to withdraw their candidacy.

“We are ready to hold open discussion on the option of withdrawing candidacy of prime minister,” Mr Shrestha told journalists after the meeting on Thursday.

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