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| Saturday, 13 December 2003 |
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Nepal PM announces local council elections KATHMANDU, Friday (AFP) Nepal's beleaguered prime minister, Surya Bahadur Thapa, has announced that local council elections will be held in the second quarter of 2004 to be followed by parliamentary polls, reports said. "Only elections can provide a lasting solution to the country's problems," Thapa said on Wednesday. "There is no possibility of the revival of the (current) parliament and the best solution is to hold parliamentary elections." Thapa is under pressure from his own party to resign for his failure to form a coalition government with other parties in a bid to end a political crisis which has gripped the Himalayn kingdom for more than a year. King Gyanendra in October 2002 dismissed the elected government for "incompetence". Parliament has not been reconvened since then, while the king has appointed three prime ministers in succession from royalist parties. The major parties have refused to recognise the latest appointee, Thapa, and are demanding new elections. "The reinstatement of parliament by the supreme court will not solve the current political situation in the country," Thapa said, referring to a petition currently being heard by the court for the recall of parliament. "The necessary arrangements are being made for local council elections first and the national elections later," he said. |
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