Back to consensus in Nepal

The agreement among Nepal's four major political formations — the Maoists, Nepali Congress (NC), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) and Madhesi Front — on the formation of a unity government could not have come a day too soon. A new constitution has to be promulgated in a little over three weeks. The Maoists will lead the government till it is finalised; the NC will lead the next government at the time of constitution promulgation with the mandate of holding the first elections under the new statute. This marks an important milestone in Nepal's political history as it revives the political consensus that had got fractured ever since the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections resulted in a surprise win for the Maoists. Four majority governments have been formed in the past four years, but this only deepened the polarisation.

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