KATHMANDU (AFP) - Nepals parliament failed to elect a new prime minister for the twelfth time on Sunday, meaning the impoverished Himalayan nation has been without a functioning government for over 100 days. Nepal has been stuck in a series of futile elections since caretaker prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned from his post on June 30. He resigned under intense pressure from the opposition Maoist party, which was calling for a consensus government. At Sundays vote Ram Chandra Poudel, leader of the Nepali Congress and the sole candidate for prime minister, secured just 89 votes, far short of the 301 needed in the 601-member Constituent Assembly. Members from other parties abstained. Political leaders have repeatedly failed to negotiate a solution to the shape of the new administration and eleven earlier votes to try to select a prime minister have failed to produce a winner. The Maoists, who waged a decade-long armed uprising against the monarchy, became the largest party in the 2008 constituent assembly elections, but without sufficient seats to form a government alone. Their candidate, party chairman Pushpa Kama Dahal, known as Prachanda or the fierce one, was the front-runner in earlier votes, but withdrew to enable fresh talks on forming a national consensus government. The deadlock has hampered progress in Nepals long-running peace process and also prevented the passage of the annual budget, delaying much-needed government spending. The countrys next election will be held on October 26.