Old rivals vie to be new Nepal PM

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Nepal is finally about to choose a new prime minister - four months after the country held elections.

It will be a contest between the leader of the former Maoist rebels and a man who served three times as premier.

The Maoist leader, Prachanda, is likely to be the winner but the party of his rival says it is worried about what the former rebels will do to the country.

Political wrangling has left Nepal without a government since it became a republic in late May.

Getting rid of its monarchy in the same month now looks like a mere formality compared with the fraught business of choosing a new government.

Surprise first

Last month, Nepal gained a mainly ceremonial president, but the politicians have argued bitterly about how to find a new executive prime minister and form a cabinet.

The Maoists have recently come under pressure to form a new administration

It is now almost certain that Maoist leader Prachanda, who spent decades underground, will have the post.

His party came a surprise first in April's elections and two of the next three parties have decided to support him in Friday's vote by assembly members.

But the Nepali Congress party - displaced from its old role as the biggest party - is to field a candidate against him, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Senior Congress politician Minendra Rijal admitted Mr Deuba was likely to lose but said the party wanted to register its strong doubts about the Maoists' intentions.

He said he feared they wanted to set up a "totalitarian communist regime". One Maoist leader described this assertion as "totally wrong" and said it was Congress's reaction to its likely loss of the prime ministerial post.

The two-man contest means the ageing veteran Congress Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will be quitting the post despite persistent reports that he was angling to keep it.

Even if Prachanda does become prime minister there is still scope for heated arguments as a new coalition cabinet is put together.

Especially controversial is the Maoists' intention to hold the defence portfolio while their own army remains intact.