Protests as Nepal Government Refuses to Relinquish Power

Nepal's ruling party has yet to hand over power to the Leftist Alliance – which won last year's two-phase elections with a landslide – prompting student protests across the capital of Kathmandu.

RELATED:

Nepal: Communist Alliance Set to Win Majority, Oli to Return as Prime Minister

Incumbent Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, from the Nepali Congress party, has declared he will remain in office until the new House of Representatives (Lower House) and the National Assembly Members (Upper House) are fully established and ready to form a new government, as the constitution demands.

The alliance between Nepal's two biggest communist parties – the Communist Party of Nepal–United Marxist Leninist (UML) and the former Maoist guerrilla fighters' Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) – and the center-left New Force Party won 113 out of the 165 directly elected seats at the House of Representatives. The remaining 110 are elected through a proportional representation system.

As for the Upper House, out of the 59 total members, 56 are elected by the electoral college and three are appointed by the president.

The Election Commision (EC) has urged the government to hold the Upper House election on February 8.

This is the first popular parliamentary election since 1999 and since the country's monarchy was abolished in 2008.

The Nepali Congress party also said they are willing to support Pushpa Kamal Dahal, former prime minister and chairman of the CPN (Maoist Center) as a new prime minister if the alliance fails to form a new government. They also declared, however, that they would remain the opposition.

The delay in handing over power is being interpreted by some as part of a strategy to prevent the alliance from ascending to government.

In response to the Nepali Congress proposal, Dahal said he had not "even imagined becoming prime minister at the cost of the Leftist Alliance."

Dahal also said the unification of the UML and the Maoist Center parties is underway and has been approved by the Party Unification Coordination, with Dahal and Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, head of the UML, as leaders of the new union.

Nepali Congress leader Deuba called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday. Govinda Pariyar, Deuba's press coordinator, said it's likely that the National Assembly election date will be announced soon.

In the last few days, people from across Nepal have been protesting for their right to act as the capital of their province. Trying to decentralize government, seven provinces were created in Nepal with temporary capitals, which has also slowed down the government transition.

In response, Dahal said the capitals of the provinces could be fixed if necessary. Out of the 15 million eligible voters, 67 percent attended the polls.