Following the verdict of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the prime ministerial election slated for today is facing uncertainty.
Saying it is unwise to conduct futile rounds of elections, the Supreme Court has offered three options to end the present deadlock: 1. Declaration of Nepali Congress candidate Ram Chandra Poudel as the new prime minister; 2. Seeking a fresh alternative to the elections; and 3. Reviewing the House rules regarding the PM elections. The bench has directed CA chairman Subash Chandra Nembang to take appropriate measures to find a solution to the crisis. Nembang is yet to make a decision.
Senior advocate Harihar Dahal has said that Nembang has the easy option of declaring the only candidate, Poudel, prime minister. President of the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) Prem Bahadur Khadka is also in line with Dahal's opinion. Khadka says Nembang can issue a directive to Poudel to garner a majority in the Legislature-Parliament within a fixed period after he is declared the prime minister. However, former President of the NBA Shambhu Thapa has said there is no point declaring Poudel prime minister as he has already lost 16 rounds of elections.
The political parties have interpreted the Supreme Court's directive according to their own interests. The Unified CPN (Maoist) and the CPN (UML) stressed the need to end the ongoing prime ministerial elections by amending House regulations. Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress has maintained its stance, demanding its prime ministerial candidate Ram Chandra Poudel be declared the prime minister unopposed.