Prachanda resigns as Nepal PM, paves way for Deuba to succeed

Kathmandu: Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Wednesday announced his resignation during a televised address.

The move paves way for Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba to become the next Prime Minister, as part of an agreement between the two leaders.

Prachanda will now meet President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to submit his resignation.

Prachanda and Deuba had reached a power-sharing accord in August last year when Prachanda was elected the Prime Minister with Deuba's support.

Both had agreed to run the government on a rotational basis until elections to Parliament were held in February 2018, as per constitutional obligations.

According to the agreement, Prachanda was to remain in office till the local elections were held whereas polls at the provincial and central levels were to be conducted under Deuba as the Prime Minister.

On Tuesday, Prachanda informed his cabinet colleagues that he will put in his papers but later deferred his planned resignation, adding to political uncertainties in Kathmandu.

On the other hand, Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist leader K.P. Oli said in Parliament on Tuesday that the Prime Minister cannot resign in the middle of local elections and should continue until the second phase of the polls on June 14 is completed.

A meeting of Prachanda, Oli and Deuba was called by Speaker Onsari Gharti to sort out the stand-off but no headway could not be made as Oli remained adamant on his stand.