Probably, creating a record of sorts in the world’s political history on Sunday, Nepal Parliament made a double hat trick by rejecting both prime ministerial candidates in the poll fray. The candidates have been fielded by the Unified CPN-Maoists and the Nepali Congress.

As expected, in the sixth consecutive round of elections, none of the contestants - former Prime Minister and Maoists chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, and Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel - could not garner the required 300-plus votes in the 599-member House.

In accordance with the existing parliamentary regulations, the election should be held until and unless a candidate secures simple majority of 301 votes in the 601-member House. The next round of elections will be held on September 7.

During the election on Sunday, Prachanda Dahal polled 240 votes, while 101 lawmakers voted against him. Of 504 attendances, 163 lawmakers, including those from the CPN-UML and Madhes-based parties, continued with their neutral stance.

Similarly, Congress candidate Poudel bagged just 122 votes in his favour, while 242 lawmakers voted against him and 172 others remained neutral.

Meanwhile, 25 lawmakers from the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum (MJF), Nepal, led by Upendra Yadav boycotted the election by breaking association with the Madhesi Front, a loose alliance formed by the four Madhes-based parties two months ago.

Just a few hours before starting the parliamentary session, MJF leaders at the joint meeting of the front had expressed resentment against the leaders of other Madhes-based parties saying the country should not be held hostage for indefinite period on the pretext of staying neutral.

However, 57 lawmakers from the MJF-Democratic, the Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party and the Sadbhavana Party continued their neutral stance today, stating they would not vote for any candidate as they failed to address their demands like declaration of entire Madhes as an autonomous provinces, along with the right to self-determination.

Meanwhile, caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal held the Unified CPN-Maoists responsible for inviting protracted political impasses.

Emerging from the House, Nepal said, “The ones who said they would find the solution within two hours if I resigned should be answerable now. They have left the country in a high and dry state.”

But the UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal, whose party has been staying neutral since July 5 election, urged the Maoists and the Congress to withdraw their candidacies and pave the way for the formation of a national unity government.

Meantime, a meeting of the Maoists office-bearers on Sunday hinted that the party could backtrack from the prime ministeral poll fray to end the existing political deadlock after holding consultations with other political parties and civil society members.

Wellington, September 5
Prime Minister John Key said it would take at least a year to rebuild the centre of the South Island's largest city, gateway to the country for hundreds of thousands of international tourists annually.

Shops and offices in the centre of Christchurch will be closed through Monday after engineers ruled it too dangerous to allow people back into the area following a 7.1-magnitude quake.

Teams of engineers inspected about 90 damaged buildings in the central business district. City officials said a police cordon around several blocks would be maintained for another night and workers should stay at home Monday.

Officials closed off unsafe buildings in the centre, where about 8,000 apartment dwellers were the only people allowed to come and go.

A state of emergency was in place and authorities said all schools in the affected region would be closed at least until Wednesday while their safety was checked. All city buses remained off the roads because of deep crevasses caused by the quake and some rail services were unable to resume because of damaged tracks.

The only death in Saturday's pre-dawn quake, the most damaging to hit a New Zealand city since 1931, was a heart attack victim. Two people seriously injured by falling debris were still in hospital.

Civil Defence Minister John Carter said the quake had damaged stopbanks protecting low-lying residential areas from the Waimakariri river, which was likely to rise from heavy rain in the Southern Alps. The Prime Minister estimated damage at more than 2 billion New Zealand dollars ($1.4 billion). — DPA

The Rajapaksa government will introduce controversial constitutional reforms in Parliament next week, which Opposition parties have warned, will lead to a dictatorship in the country.

The amendments will lift the two-term restriction on the President to hold office and enable a person to run for unspecified terms for the post of executive. The Opposition United National Party (UNP) and the People Liberation Front or JVP both have warned that a dictatorship was looming with the President trying to change the constitution to suit his personal agenda. Rajapaksa called an early presidential poll in January this year and secured a convincing victory. He will take oath for the second term in office in November, which entails him to serve as the President for the next six years.

However, the all powerful executive presidency in the country is seen as undemocratic by many as the President has the power to dissolve the Parliament and cannot be brought to court while holding the office.

Lanka’s first executive President Junius Richard Jayewardene, who introduced the present Constitution in 1978, said, it could do anything except “change a man into a women and a woman into a man”.

London, September 5
The Queen is angry with Tony Blair as he has branded her snooty in his new autobiography, A Journey. His memoirs lifted the lid on life with the royals and Her Majesty is not impressed.

Blair described the Queen as stuck-up and divulged details of their private conservations, including how she handled Princess Diana's death. Palace insiders have accused Blair of betraying her trust. He revealed how the Queen once hosted a barbecue at Balmoral Castle before clearing away the plates and then washing up. He told how Prince Philip rubbished Stoke-on-Trent as a "ghastly place" and how he mocked former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott for the way he balanced a cuppa on his stomach.

One senior courtier said the royals had expressed their "profound sense of disappointment" that the former Prime Minister had blabbed in his book — A Journey. — ANI

Durban, September 5
South African President Jacob Zuma is to become a father for the 22nd time, as his fiancee is pregnant, a media report said.

Zuma's fiancee Bongiwe Gloria Ngema, who recently accompanied the 68-year-old polygamous President on a state visit to China, is expecting a child next year, the 'Ilanga' newspaper quoted her close friend as saying. Ngema already has one child with the President and a wedding date has been set for December, which will bring to four the number of South Africa's First Ladies.

Reports of Ngema's pregnancy comes only a fortnight after the arrival of President Zuma's 21st child who was born to his second wife amid claims that the newborn boy could be the result of an affair between his mother and her bodyguard. The President, however, has dismissed the claims as “malicious rumours”. — PTI