Nepal parliament fails again to elect new PM

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KATHMANDU, July 24 (AFP): Nepal's parliament failed Friday in its latest effort to elect a new prime minister, fuelling concern that political deadlock will derail the country's peace process and trigger fresh instability.
For the second time in three days, a vote by 599 MPs fell short of providing a majority to either of two candidates: Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal and centrist Nepali Congress chief Ram Chandra Poudel.
The Maoist leader garnered 241 votes against 123 for Poudel, with the remainder either voting against either candidate or abstaining.
"Both the candidates are unable to secure a majority," speaker Subash Chandra Nembang said, before announcing a third ballot to be held August 2.
The Maoists, who fought a 10-year battle against the state before entering politics and winning elections in 2008, say that as the largest single party in parliament they should lead the government.
Dahal, better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, or "the fierce one," had served as prime minister after the 2008 vote but quit in May 2009 over a row with army.