Nepal

NC leader Mahat urges PM not to dismiss Maoist ministers from cabinet

NC leader Mahat urges PM not to dismiss Maoist ministers from cabinet

By THT Online

Nepali Congress leader Ram Sharan Mahat speaking at an interaction programme in Kathmandu, on Friday, October 6, 2017. Courtesy: Reporters Club

KATHMANDU: Former finance minister and Nepali Congress central leader Ram Sharan Mahat has urged Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba not to dismiss the ministers of CPN Maoist Centre (CPN MC) from the cabinet. Speaking at an interaction programme in the Capital on Friday, former finance minister Mahat said, the elections are on the doorsteps and its not the right time to reform the government. 'Elections dates have already been announced, so government should not be reformed, it would bring political instability in the nation,' Mahat argued. 'Voices were raised to dispel the CPN MC ministers from the Deuba-led government, however, NC has not held any discussions and no decisions have been taken so far. NC Leader Mahat opined if we dismissed Maoist ministers it would complicate the political issues and would ultimately affect the upcoming elections. He said the removal of ministers from the cabinet falls within PM's jurisdiction. 'NC made a big mistake by forging electoral alliance with the CPN MC for local level in Bharatpur Metropolitan City,' Mahat lamented. He also questioned the morality of CPN MC's alliance with CPN-UML. NC leader Mahat also accused the main opposition CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli of forging alliance in fear of losing a firm grip in upcoming elections to the House of Representatives and the State Assemblies. He claimed that the UML feared to compete with the NC on its own. Recollecting the CPN MC Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal's statement of establishing Communism within ten years in Nepal, leader Mahat urged all the democratic, progressive  forces to unite to safeguard the democracy. He claimed that people were not in favour of communism in the country and asserted that NC was not fearful of the challenge from the left alliance. He rather said that the left alliance would not sustain for long time. Meanwhile, NC has forged electoral alliance with five other political parties for the upcoming elections.