Kathmandu, February 23

Prime Minister and Chair of CPN-Maoist Centre Pushpa Kamal Dahal today held talks with leaders of CPN (Unified Socialist) and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal on the presidential candidate. The PM, who has been saying that the president should be chosen through consensus, earlier held separate meetings with CPN (Unified Socialist) Chair Madhav Kumar Nepal and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal Chair Upendra Yadav.

Leaders who took part in meetings said they had not arrived at a conclusion on who should be their choice for the presidential candidate. JSP-N leader Rajendra Shrestha told mediapersons that they had discussed various issues, including presidential election, but would reach a conclusion only tomorrow after meeting leaders of the Nepali Congress, the largest party in the House of Representatives.

Asked if his party was after the vice-president's post, Shrestha said the CPN-MC, CPN (US), and JSP-N had dwelt on forging a working unity in the past and today's meeting was continuation of the same initiative.

Earlier, JSP-N Chair Upendra Yadav had told mediapersons that Dahal was positive about giving the post of vice-president to his party.

Asked if the current seven-party alliance would break and the old alliance that was at the helm before polls would be revived, Shrestha said that would be known only tomorrow.

Earlier, in talks with Dahal, Nepal, whom Oli promised to back if he contested presidential poll, said he would rather be a consensus candidate. Nepal also suggested to revive the previous five-party alliance where the CPN-MC, the CPN (US), and the Nepali Congress were partners.

After Dahal's talks with Nepal, mediapersons asked Dahal if the old alliance would be revived, he said the matter had not been finalised yet. Nepal, on the other hand, said they had multiple options and would choose the best option to steer the country in the right direction, protect the constitution, and play the role of keeping the national unity intact.

'The main issue is to solve the country's problem, which party or candidate does that is secondary,' Nepal added.

Meanwhile, CPN-UML leader Ishwar Pokharel today met Nepal to discuss presidential election. According to a CPN (US) source, Nepal told Pokharel that he was ready to become the candidate for president, but the UML should be ready to revive the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) which was led by two co-chairpersons - Oli and Dahal.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 24, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.