Former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli's Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (CPN-UML) has formally withdrawn its support for the ruling coalition after the sides failed to agree on a presidential candidate for the March 9 poll.
"A high-level meeting of the party held under the leadership of party chief K P Sharma Oli on Monday decided to quit the government and withdraw the party's support for the Prachanda-led government," Bishnu Rijal, deputy chief of CPN-UML, told reporters.
The tenure of Nepal's current President Bidya Devi Bhandari will end on March 13.
The candidacy of Ram Chandra Paudel, a senior leader of the Nepali Congress Party, is supported by Prime Minister Prachanda's party and seven other parties.
However, Rijal said that eight CPN-UML ministers would resign, including Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudyal and Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Poudyal.
The decision came after the leading Pushpa Kamal Dahal Party rejected the CPN-UML's candidate, Subas Nembang, and supported Paudel.
Both Paudel, 78, and Nembang, 69, filed their candidacies on February 25. Local media reports hinted that Paudel is favorite to become the Himalayan nation's next president.
The split in the coalition is unlikely to topple the government as the Nepali Congress Party continues to back it.