Nepal update on vote

As the third round of Nepal PM elections shows, the deadlock is yet to be broken. And the election procedure can continue endlessly till someone wins power. What was unique in the third round (when compared with the two previous rounds) is that a faction of the 82-strong Madhes front supported Prachanda. There is a lot of horse-trading going on and the Madhes front has demanded support for a "One Madhes one province" clause. Obviously, the maoists who go as far back as dictatorship of the proletariat cannot buy this clause. So some face-saving is in order and the maoists will need to concede to some form of Madhes state in return. The man standing between Prachanda and PM-ship is Bijay Kumar Gachhedar, ex-Deputy PM in the MKN government. The NC will also seek a parlay with the CPN(ML) group to seek support for Ram Chandra Poudel. Noone has an idea why the NC candidate still continues, other than that if he resigns, Prachanda will get elected unanimously. The NC candidate has no hope minus CPN(ML) and same applies for CPN(ML). However, if the CPN(ML) and NC get together, the madhes front will get broken and a good fraction will try to stitch a front around the maoists. In any case, the NC has promised far short for the Madhes parties than the maoists have. The fourth round of elections is on Friday, August 6. It would not be surprising to see any outcome at this stage, given that the Madhes front lacks any unity and everyone seems to be running helter skelter for their most immediate demands to be met. If the NC and CPN(ML) stitch a coalition framework, the maoists will cry wolf and start their People's War part III. Wonderful, makes for some nice timepass in times of stress.