ID :
15750
Wed, 08/13/2008 - 15:23
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/15750
The shortlink copeid
Prachanda receives setback as CPN(UML) rejects isolating NC
Shirish B Pradhan
Kathmandu, Aug 13 (PTI) Ahead of the crucial Friday vote, Maoist chief Prachanda's hopes to become the next prime minister received a fresh setback Tuesday with Communist Party ofNepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), C.P.N.(U.M.L.) refusing to back his government if it did not include the Nepali Congress (N.C), of his arch-rival G P Koirala.
"The next government should be a government of
national consensus with the inclusion of Nepali Congress,"
former general secretary of C.P.N.-U.M.L. Madhav Kumar Nepal
said after a crucial standing committee meeting of the party.
The Maoists, which have 220 seats in the 601-member
house, are hoping to form a majority government with support
of the C.P.N.(U.M.L.) that has 103 lawmakers during the August
15 vote in the Constituent Assembly after the latest round of
talks on forging "consensus" among mainstream parties failed
with N.C. demanding the defence portfolio.
Outrightly rejecting the N.C.'s condition, Prachanda or
Pushpa Kamal Dahal said he would rather sit in the opposition.
"We cannot give defence ministry to the Nepali Congress,"
he said in response to the demand by N.C. which is the second
biggest party with 110 members.
The Left party suggested that the two squabbling parties
give up their claim on the defence portfolio to pave the way
for a unity government.
"Maoists should not take the security ministries Home and
Defence-- and the N.C. should also not stick to the defence
portfolio in order to create an atmosphere of consensus for
the formation of the new government," C.P.N.(U.M.L.) leader
Nepal said.
"As both Maoist and Nepali Congress have been claiming for
the defence portfolio creating a deadlock, we think it would
be better if any third party gets the post," Nepal said.
With Koirala, who is the caretaker prime minister, too
trying to bring the C.P.N.(U.M.L.) into his fold,
C.P.N.(U.M.L.) made it clear that it will not be part of any
government which excludes the Maoists.
However, Nepali Congress remained firm on its demand
saying its claim on the defence portfolio was "justified".
"If N.C. is provided the defence portfolio it would help
to taking the peace process to its logical end and integrating
the Maoist combatants into security mechanism," party
vice-president and Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram
Chandra Poudyal said.
After the Maoists missed two deadlines to form a
government of consensus, President Ram Baran Yadav directed
that the Prime Minister be elected by the Assembly on Friday
with a majority vote.
The 53-year-old Maoists chief, who has been
projecting himself as the the Prime Minister-in-waiting after
the April 10 elections, faced a major debacle last month after
the Nepali Congress succeeded in defeating his candidates in
the Presidential and Vice-presidential elections with the
support of C.P.N.(U.M.L.) and ethnic-Indian Madhesi parties.
The C.P.N.(U.M.L.) has been sulking after a last-minute
U-turn by Maoists on supporting its candidate in the polls.
PTI SBP
Kathmandu, Aug 13 (PTI) Ahead of the crucial Friday vote, Maoist chief Prachanda's hopes to become the next prime minister received a fresh setback Tuesday with Communist Party ofNepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), C.P.N.(U.M.L.) refusing to back his government if it did not include the Nepali Congress (N.C), of his arch-rival G P Koirala.
"The next government should be a government of
national consensus with the inclusion of Nepali Congress,"
former general secretary of C.P.N.-U.M.L. Madhav Kumar Nepal
said after a crucial standing committee meeting of the party.
The Maoists, which have 220 seats in the 601-member
house, are hoping to form a majority government with support
of the C.P.N.(U.M.L.) that has 103 lawmakers during the August
15 vote in the Constituent Assembly after the latest round of
talks on forging "consensus" among mainstream parties failed
with N.C. demanding the defence portfolio.
Outrightly rejecting the N.C.'s condition, Prachanda or
Pushpa Kamal Dahal said he would rather sit in the opposition.
"We cannot give defence ministry to the Nepali Congress,"
he said in response to the demand by N.C. which is the second
biggest party with 110 members.
The Left party suggested that the two squabbling parties
give up their claim on the defence portfolio to pave the way
for a unity government.
"Maoists should not take the security ministries Home and
Defence-- and the N.C. should also not stick to the defence
portfolio in order to create an atmosphere of consensus for
the formation of the new government," C.P.N.(U.M.L.) leader
Nepal said.
"As both Maoist and Nepali Congress have been claiming for
the defence portfolio creating a deadlock, we think it would
be better if any third party gets the post," Nepal said.
With Koirala, who is the caretaker prime minister, too
trying to bring the C.P.N.(U.M.L.) into his fold,
C.P.N.(U.M.L.) made it clear that it will not be part of any
government which excludes the Maoists.
However, Nepali Congress remained firm on its demand
saying its claim on the defence portfolio was "justified".
"If N.C. is provided the defence portfolio it would help
to taking the peace process to its logical end and integrating
the Maoist combatants into security mechanism," party
vice-president and Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram
Chandra Poudyal said.
After the Maoists missed two deadlines to form a
government of consensus, President Ram Baran Yadav directed
that the Prime Minister be elected by the Assembly on Friday
with a majority vote.
The 53-year-old Maoists chief, who has been
projecting himself as the the Prime Minister-in-waiting after
the April 10 elections, faced a major debacle last month after
the Nepali Congress succeeded in defeating his candidates in
the Presidential and Vice-presidential elections with the
support of C.P.N.(U.M.L.) and ethnic-Indian Madhesi parties.
The C.P.N.(U.M.L.) has been sulking after a last-minute
U-turn by Maoists on supporting its candidate in the polls.
PTI SBP
