Nepalgunj, November 5

Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal today denied that he craved the post of prime minister.

“As I’m not the prime minister, I can at least visit different nooks and crannies of the country and heed people’s problems and convey them to the government, which wouldn’t be possible if I was occupying the executive seat,” said Dahal, speaking at a reception organised by NCP Banke today.

Further, Dahal argued that unity between the two former communist parties was the demand of the time.

“As development of the country was not possible without a government that would last at least for five years, there was no option for us but to go for unity,” said the leader, claiming that the country would see the much-sought development under the present government.

The ruling party leader also claimed that the appointment of provincial chiefs was indeed in keeping with the statutory provisions. “It’s customary for governors to change following change in the government. Our government, however, waited for two long years before replacing them,” he said.

“In fact, removing or appointing governors isn’t a big deal; it’s the government’s prerogative,” he observed.

Earlier, speaking to journalists at Nepalgunj airport, Dahal observed that it was normal for senior party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal to write ‘note of dissent’ after his recommendations for governors’ posts were not endorsed by the party secretariat meeting.

“The senior party leader had wanted the meeting to endorse one or two of the names recommended by him, but that didn’t happen. It was due to this reason that he wrote ‘a note of dissent’,” he said.