Ex-communist rebel leader pledges stable government in Nepal

Nepal’s governing alliance is pledging to create a stable government that will be able to complete a full five-year term in the Himalayan nation that has had 13 different governments in the past 16 years.
The alliance of four political parties is contesting Nov. 20 parliamentary elections together in hopes of retaining power.
“Our commitment is that the next government will complete the full five-year term and provide the country with stability because we will keep our partnership intact,” Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the leader of the Maoist communist party Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a key member of the alliance, said in an interview Wednesday.
Political stability is much needed in the country, where frequent changes in government and squabbles among parties have been blamed for delays in writing the constitution and slow economic development.
No government since the abolition of the centuries-old monarchy in 2008 has completed a full term.
Dahal said the parties in the governing alliance have pledged to remain together for parliament’s full five-year term after the election, which he claimed they will comfortably win against a bigger communist party and its partners.
The alliance’s biggest competition is the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) headed by Dahal’s one-time partner, Khadga Prasad Oli.