Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 29:

Former premier Surya Bahadur Thapa criticised Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today for his stance on holding polls saying Deuba’s stance was an irresponsible and one-sided.

Thapa ruled out the possibility of holding elections in the current situation without the consent of the coalition partners, political parties, Election Commission (EC) and the security bodies. “When Deuba has failed to convince his coalition partners, it would be wise for him to make a decision only after wide discussions with all sections of the society and the political parties,” Thapa suggested. However, he said he would be “highly grateful” to Deuba if he succeeded in holding polls.

Thapa ridiculed Deuba saying, “If he succeeds in holding free and fair elections, he should be conferred a title of historic person.”

“It will be a seer irresponsibility on the part of Deuba to technically announce the polls,” Thapa said at a programme here today. Citing ongoing differences among the coalition partners in the Cabinet, Thapa lambasted the government for being incompetent in all sectors. “This indicates that the government lacks vision and competence,” he said. The government, he said, has turned a deaf ear towards the plight of Dalits, Madhesis, Janajatis and other downtrodden sections of the society and warned of severe consequences if they are ignored for long. “The problem could be more dangerous than the Maoist issue if their plight is not addressed on time,” he said saying that it is high time the country needed a re-structuring. Former minister Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani criticised the coalition partners for lacking consistency in their statements, especially on the issue of polls.

Highlighting the upcoming broader national political convention to be organised by the Thapa followers, former state minister Renu Kumari Yadav said the convention would give birth to a new democratic party, which she argued would address all existing problems facing country that are left uncared by the political parties.