POREG VIEW: The decision of Nepali Maoist supremo, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, ‘Prachanda’, to retire from the Prime Minister’s race and to keep his party away from the next ballot scheduled for Sept 26 does not come as a surprise. Gaffe-prone Prachanda and his colleagues have been under pressure for a while. It is this pressure that made them to allow the government to take over the control of the PLA combatants presently held in UN monitored camps.

The climb down is a step forward in completing the peace process which has become a hostage to the Maoists. Prachanda’s latest decision is a part of deal stuck with CPN-UML chairman, Jhalanath Khanal.  It is natural his rival Ram Chandra Poudel of the Nepali Congress to come under pressure to leave the contest.

The NC is in the midst of organisational elections. Its 12th national convention opened on Friday, Sept 17, where the party is expected to witness a churning. The point is NC’s response will not be known until after the convention and the installation of its new leadership.

Poudel will have difficulty to muster required votes on Sept 26, if the Maoists stay away and the UML continues to abstain. Neutrality of CPN-UML and the Madheshi parties is responsible for the deadlock in the PM election.  The Maoists have tried to split the Madheshi ranks but the plan backfired with a sting operation exposing their dirty tricks.

All this makes consensus politics inevitable and the UML initiative signals that Nepal has begun the march towards breaking the logjam.

It is possible that UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal could emerge as the consensus candidate. He is acceptable to the Maoists; the NC also may not have strong reservations against him.