Maoists storm Nepal's parliament, blocking vote for new prime minister

Maoist lawmakers stormed Nepal's parliament and demonstrated inside the assembly hall on Monday to block a vote for a new prime minister–a move that could prolong the country's political crisis. The members of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)–many of whom are former rebels–want the president to fire the army chief, as the previous Maoist-led government had ordered. The president overturned that order, however, prompting then-Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to resign and destroying his coalition. The political standoff has put new stress on Nepal's recently forged peace after the Maoists' bloody 10-year insurgency. The group laid down their arms and joined a peace process in 2006, and then came to power through general elections in 2008. The party says, however, that the current army chief is not fulfilling part of the peace deal, which called for former rebel fighters to be integrated into the military. On Sunday, an alliance of 22 political parties filed an application in parliament claiming they have enough support to form a new government, and called for a parliamentary vote to elect veteran communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as prime minister. But the demonstration by the Maoists forced Speaker Subash Nemwang to cancel the meeting at which he was to set out the process for electing a new prime minister. The Maoists have been staging demonstrations inside parliament since Dahal resigned, preventing it from functioning. Their deputy leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha has said the party will not allow parliament to function unless their demands are met.