Madhav Kumar Nepal

Kathmandu, June 30: Blaming the main Opposition Maoists for the continuing political stalemate Nepal’s Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal today resigned from office after leading the coalition government for nearly 13 months.

Nepal announced his resignation during a 15 minute address to the nation which was telecast live by all Television channels. Soon after the address Nepal went to the official residence of President Ram Baran Yadav and submitted his resignation. President Yadav accepted the resignation and asked him to continue in office as the caretaker Prime Minister till the next government assumes office.

In his address, Prime Minister Nepal listed out the achievements of his coalition government and claimed that he had fulfilled the mandate given to him 13 months ago. He specifically mentioned the extension of the Constituent Assembly by one year at the eleventh hour exactly a month ago and blamed the Maoists for putting up hurdles and preventing his government from functioning.

Nepal’s resignation brings the curtain down on three months of political uncertainty which began in April with the Maoists stepping up their demand for his resignation.

The Maoists claim that as the single largest party in the Constituent Assembly they have the legitimate right to lead the government which has the specific mandate of overseeing the Constitution writing process.

Even as Nepal remained unmoved the Maoists launched an indefinite strike on May 2 nd which brought life to a standstill all over Nepal. The strike was called off after six days when the Maoists realised that they had not made much headway. Nepal also withstood tremendous pressure thereafter for his resignation even as the two year term of the Constituent Assembly was about to end on May 28 th .

At the last minute he struck a deal with the Maoists promising to quit if they supported his motion for extension of the Assembly’s tenure by one year.

His resignation this evening is part of that deal and the Maoists are expected to initiate the process of forming the next government in all probability under the leadership of their number two leader Baburam Bhattarai. In fact all the constituents of the outgoing ruling coalition had steadfastly opposed a Maoist government led by their supremo Prachanda forcing the former rebel group to look at alternatives within their party. Deputy Prime Minister and Nepali Congress leader Sujatha Koirala told The Telegraph that her party would support the government formation process. However she hinted that her party would also be in contention to head the next government.

“All constituents of the coalition are united on the issue of government formation. Nepali Congress too has a huge responsibility to fulfil”, she added.