by Kalpit Parajuli

Madhav Kumar Nepal was in office since May 2009. He blamed his resignation on the Maoist opposition, which was always against him. A big question mark hangs over the country’s future.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned yesterday after 13 months in power. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) politician made the announcement on national television because he did not want to be hostage of the situation. Maoists welcomed the decision; they had tried to since last year to get him to quit through strikes and demonstrations.

“I resigned because I didn’t want to keep the country in stalemate and indecisive situation,” he said in a 25-minute address on national television.

He attacked the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) for preventing him from fulfilling his mandate.

“The government could not write the new constitution and end the peace process because of obstructions created by the opposition party,” he added.

He insisted that he tried several times to get the Maoists to work with him to find a way out of the crisis through a broad-based consensus among the parties, but all of his proposals were turned down.

Madhav Kumar Nepal came to power on 28 May 2009. He replaced Prime Minister and Maoist Leader Prachanda who had resigned on 4 May to protest against President Ram Baran Yadav’s refusal to accept the integration of Maoist fighters into the army.

The coalition government that Nepal presided was backed by 22 parties, except the all powerful Maoists, who instead went on to boycott it, bringing the country to the edge of another civil war several times.

For the moment, uncertainties continue to plague the country. Over the next few days, the main parties represented in parliament will discuss ways to overcome the crisis and form a coalition government that includes the Maoist party.

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