Nepal president orders parliament to elect next PM

Kathmandu: Nepal's president has ordered the country's parliament to elect a new prime minister after a deadline for forming a coalition government through negotiations passed with no progress made.

The country was thrust into political crisis last week when Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal abruptly resigned and pulled his party from the government to protest President Ram Baran Yadav's overruling his decision to fire the nation's army chief.

Yadav had asked political parties to set up a new government and name a new prime minister by Saturday, a deadline party leaders had said would be impossible to meet.

Yadav's spokesman Rajendra Dahal said on Sunday, "The parties did not reach a consensus and name a single candidate so the president has asked the parliament to choose a new prime minister by majority vote."