Kathmandu, January 5

The Madhav Kumar Nepal-led CPN (Unified Socialist) continues to keep the seven-party alliance and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal guessing on what it will do on January 10 when the Dahal-led government seeks the vote of confidence.

The ongoing politburo meeting of the party ended today, saying nothing about the vote of confidence. Dahal had sought the CPN (US) support in the trust vote, but CPN (US) Spokesperson Jagannath Khatiwada said his party had not yet received any formal request from the government.

Although the Dahal government commands majority even without the backing of the CPN (US), the government wants to muster support of as many lawmakers as possible.

Meanwhile, the CPN (US) today decided to entrust the four-member talks team led by party General Secretary Beduram Bhusal to hold unity talks with other left parties. Other members of the talks team are Ganga Lal Tuladhar, Prakash Jwala, and Bijay Paudel.

In recent weeks, CPN (US) leaders have met JSP-N Chair Upendra Yadav and held informal talks about the possibility of merger between the two parties.

The JSP-N has also formed a talks team to hold unity talks with other political parties.

JSP-N Spokesperson Manish Kumar Suman said his party had not held any serious talks with the CPN (US). 'We are ready to hold unity talks with all like-minded parties and not just one party,' Suman added.

He said merger with any other political party could happen only when there was convergence of political ideology and party policies.

Asked if his party would join the Dahal-led government, Suman said it could do so if it got a fair deal in power-sharing. 'We may extend outside support to the government if we cannot join the government,' Suman said. He said the party would think of joining the government if its policies and political ideology were incorporated in the common minimum programme and its leaders got respectable posts in the power-sharing agreement.

Suman said the ruling alliance should also express commitment that the republican order, federalism, pluralism, and secularism would get continuity.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 6, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.