As the deadline to register nominations for the post of prime minister approaches, the groundwork has begun to delay the election by three weeks.

As the deadline to register nominations for the post of prime minister approaches, the groundwork has begun to delay the election by three weeks.

Former lawmaker and NC leader Amaresh Kumar Jha met with top Maoist leaders and CA Chair Subas Chandra Nembang to discuss delaying the election to work towards a consensus government. In an interview with Kantipur FM, Jha said Maoist leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai were positive about the idea.

“A consensus government is the need of the hour to complete the peace process and write a new constitution,” he said. “There should be a way to reach a consensus for a national government.”

As the parties had failed to form a national consensus government, the president had asked parliament to form a majority government as per Article 38 of the Interim Constitution.

Jha said he had already consulted with CA Chair Subas Nembang. “The election can be postponed if political parties do not register their nominations today,” he said, quoting Nembang.

Registration of nominations for the post of prime minister opened at the parliamentary secretariat at 11 am today, 24 hours before the election was slated to take place. The deadline for nominations is 5 pm today.

However, the UCPN (Maoist) and UML are still holding internal meetings in their respective party offices to finalise their candidate for the post. Only NC has approved Ram Chandra Poudel as its candidate for the post, but despite claiming that it should lead the next government, NC is unlikely to be able to garner enough support.

As of 1pm, only three lawmakers have taken nomination forms on behalf of their parties from the parliamentary secretariat: NC chief whip Laxman Ghimire, Chure Bhavar Rastriya Ekata Party Nepal lawmaker Keshav Mainali and Dalit Janjati Party lawmaker Bishwendra Paswan. The latter two parties only have one parliamentary seat each.

Secretariat spokesperson Mukunda Sharma said the election can be postponed only if no nomination is made within the stipulated time. According to him, no party has registered its nomination.