Parties Meet for Formation of Govt in Nepal

A day after Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned, as many as 20 political parties are meeting in Nepal to form a new government and save the country from the current crisis.

“An all-party meeting is being held at the office of the Communist UML party on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of forming a coalition government,” Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala said.

Koirala said the Maoists, who emerged as the biggest group in parliament after last year’s elections, were unlikely to attend the meeting.

However, the Maoists have held several small street protests in the capital Kathmandu and other towns.

To prevent any violent incidence, a large police force has been deployed around the president’s palace and police have detained 40 protesters.

“We are planning protests in different parts of the Kathmandu valley on Tuesday afternoon,” the AFP news agency quoted Uma Subedi, secretary of the Maoists’ youth wing, the Young Communist League, as saying.

“We will launch regular protests until the president takes back his decision,” she said.

The PM Dahal resigned dramatically following Nepal President opposed his decision to sack the army chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal

According to Nepalese media, his resignation has pushed Nepal into a fresh political crisis following an election win by the Maoists last year.