NEW DELHI: Nepal’s caretaker PM and Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba was elected as the parliamentary party leader of his party on Wednesday.
“Deuba defeated party general secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa by 39 votes. All 89 members of the party voted. The win indicates that Deuba will possibly form the next government,’’ said former Nepalese Ambassador Vijay Kant Karna.
With Nepal President Bidhiya Devi Bhandari asking lawmakers to form the new government on Christmas, hectic negotiations were on not just for the post of the PM but also for other members of the government, including the president, vice-president, speakers and chief ministers.
“Nearly all constituencies and provinces in Nepal run on the coalition. So decisions will be taken on who gets what portfolio in the next few days,’’ Karna added. If no coalition is formed, then the leader of the party with the highest number of votes (Deuba as of now) will be invited to form the government by the president.
“There were talks of Prachanda also showing interest as being a PM candidate. He, however, opted out in Deuba’s favour. Left parties led by KP Sharma (Oli) are unlikely to get support, though they have been negotiating with Prachanda,’’ Karna added.