February 27: The CPN (UML) has decided to quit the government, the state-owned RSS reported on Monday. The party's Secretariat Meeting held at the party central office at Chyasal, Lalitpur on Monday morning decided to quit the government, UML vice Chair Bishnu Prasad Paudel told RSS.    
He added that the UML has also decided to withdraw its support to the government.

CPN (UML), which is the second largest party in parliament, took such decision after its coalition partner CPN (Maoist Centre) sided with the Nepali Congress (NC) for the upcoming presidential election. CPN (UML) had backed Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to lead the government as the prime minister in return for Dahal’s support in the presidential election. However, in the changed political context after the NC also backed Maoist Centre, the party decided to seek national consensus for a presidential candidate instead of backing the UML. This ultimately led to a situation in which UML has been forced to quit government. However, PM Dahal still enjoys overwhelming support with the NC backup.