In the third stage, different parties carried out arduous negotiations over presidential candidates. The Maoists and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) reached an agreement on July 16 under which the Maoists would back Madhav Kumar Nepal for the presidency, while the latter would support the leader of the Maoists as prime minister of a new government to be formed by the two parties. As they jointly hold some 330 seats in the Constituent Assembly, the two left-wing parties, if united, could call the shots in Nepal’s political world. But their alliance failed to materialize because of intervention from their neighbor to the south, according to Nepalese media reports.

On July 17, the Maoists announced that they would support Ramraja Prasad Singh, a Madhesi politician and leader of the Nepal Democratic Front, for president together with the three Madhesi parties. Several hours before the presidential election on July 19, however, the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum-which holds 54 seats in the Constituent Assembly and is the largest of the three Madhesi parties-decided to back Ram Baran Yadav, General Secretary of the Nepali Congress. The president was not elected that day because neither candidate won a clear majority. Two days later, Yadav was elected the first president of Nepal in the second round of the presidential election.

President Yadav’s primary task is to dissolve the interim government and oversee the establishment of a new government. There is reason to believe that the contention over the presidential election is a prelude to even fiercer political struggles in the future. While competing for the presidency, Nepal’s parties tended to change their positions and alliances based on their partisan interests, without showing political integrity. For example, before the presidential election, all major parties vied to court a party that was behind the Madhesi separatist motion several days earlier.

Nepalese parties face an awkward situation as they try to form a new government. The Maoists not only lost the presidential election but have also seen their image as a nationalist, patriotic party erode. Despite its setback, the party that spent 10 years fighting to overthrow the monarchy will make every effort to regain the upper hand in the government forming process. Given the escalating power struggle at home and intervention by external forces, Nepal’s political prospects remain unpredictable.

About Nepal Location: a Himalayan country bordering India in the east, south and west, and China in the north Area: 147,181 square km Capital: Kathmandu Population: 28,875,140 (2007) Estimated Per-capita GDP: $345 (2006)