Race Begins For New PM

As the November 20 election vote count practically concluded, the race for government formation and who would be the next prime minister has heated the nation’s politics. Since emerging as the biggest party, the Nepali Congress, which leads a five-party ruling coalition, has worked its way into creating a new government by retaining the current alliance. However, the Maoist Centre, which finished third in the recent election, has also declared its intention to head the next alliance-led administration. Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda joined the race to become the next prime minister. He might secure considerable support from the CPN-Unified Socialist Party, which secured 10 seats but failed to become a national party after failing to clear the three per cent requirement in the proportional representation system.