Nepal president calls for majority gov't

KATHMANDU, Nepal, May 10 (UPI) -- Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav Sunday called for a majority vote in Parliament to elect a new prime minister after talks on a coalition government failed.

With the country's political crisis continuing, President Yadav suggested for the first time that a majority -- rather than a consensus -- government be formed, sending an official letter to Parliament asking members to choose a prime minister in that manner, the Voice of America reported.

Presidential adviser Rajendra Dahal told reporters Yadav was required under Nepal's interim constitution to ask that a new majority government be formed after the country's political parties refused to meet his midnight Saturday deadline to form a coalition by consensus.

"In consensus government normally it is understood that there is no opposition, but in majority government there is opposition," Dahal said.

Nepal's Maoists say the move might be used to freeze it out of the prime minister's post, even though they won 40 percent of the seats in last year's elections, thus enabling any number of smaller parties to compete for the top job, VOA reported.