Nepal’s Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Wednesday resigned accusing the Opposition Maoist party as well as some leaders of his own party of not having cooperated with his government.
Nepal was nominated prime minister by the majority in the Legislative Parliament when Maoist party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda resigned from his prime minister’s post showing the cause of the creation of parallel rule by the then Army Chief as well as President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav. The then Prime Minister Prachanda did not get support from other non-Maoist coalition partners for his action against the then Army Chief Rookmangud Katuwal, who defied the elected government’s orders and instructions.
When President Dr. Yadav—ceremonial in constitutional nature—re-appointed the Army Chief sacked by the then executive Prime Minister Prachanda, the Maoist Party had been opposing the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led coalition government that followed the Prachanda-led government in May 2009. Maoists had been demanding the restoration of the civilian supremacy as well as their leadership as the largest political party in a national consensus government since then.
Veteran political sources have diffused some information that the Nepali Congress Party is not yet psychologically prepared to accept the leadership of Maoists in the next government. The national consensus government since the Constituent Assembly elections held on 10 April 2008 has not been formed yet.
As the resignation letter of Madhav Kumar Nepal is full of vituperations against the Opposition Maoist party, the existing noncooperative attitude among parties is likely to remain, affecting the constitution drafting process.