Nepal PM announces resignation : ATMANDU, Nepal — Nepal's prime minister announced his resignation Wednesday, bowing to pressure from opposition Maoists who have been demanding his ouster in parliament and on the streets. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said in a televised speech that he decided to resign to end political deadlock and shore up the peace process that ended years of Maoist insurgency in the Himalayan nation. The Maoists, the former communist rebels who won the most seats in the 2008 elections, have been protesting for months demanding his resignation and a new national government headed by them. "I had frequently urged the political parties including the Maoists to find an appropriate way out of the present deadlock and forge a consensus. But no agreement has reached so far," Nepal said. "As it would be inappropriate to further prolong the situation of confusion and indecision, I decided to resign from the post of prime minister to help accomplish the tasks of constitution drafting and the peace process. The prime minister took over the post in May 2009 after the previous government led by the Maoists resigned following differences with the president over the firing of the army chief. He said that he wanted to bring an end to political deadlock in the country and move the peace process forward. Mr Nepal has been under pressure to resign for some months by the Maoists. They say that as the largest party it is their right to determine who is PM. Mr Nepal was appointed little more than a year ago to head a 22-party coalition that succeeded the Maoist government. "I have decided to resign from the post of prime minister so that the peace process can be completed, a new constitution drafted and the current political deadlock resolved," he said. "I had frequently urged the political parties including the Maoists to find an appropriate way out of the present deadlock and forge a consensus. But no agreement has reached so far." Mr Nepal said it "would be inappropriate to further prolong the ...