CPN-UML decides to withdraw support and recall ministers
KATHMANDU, JULY 3
The Nepali Congress Central Executive Committee met on Wednesday, approved party chair Sher Bahadur Deuba's agreement to form a new power alliance with CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli, and asked Prime Minister Dahal to pave the way for the formation of a national government.
On Monday at midnight, the two parties agreed to take turns leading the government and continue with the constitutional reform process.
The Nepali Congress is the largest party in the House of Representatives, while the CPN-UML is the second largest.
Following the meeting, Nepali Congress spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said that CPN-UML president KP Sharma Oli will lead the government in its initial phase, and the pre-election government in the second phase will be led by Sher Bahadur Deuba.
He stated, "The two largest parties have come to consensus to form a government, and the Prime Minister should pave the way for sustainable stability. That is appropriate, given that other parties have expressed support for the new equation."
NC Vice-President Dhanraj Gurung said the meeting approved the agreement reached between the two parties.
"We welcome the agreement and are determined to put it into effect. We have briefly discussed what was said about forming a national government on issues such as development, constitutional amendments, and corruption control," he said.
He stated that because a two-thirds majority is required for constitutional amendments, discussions will also take place with other parties.
The agreement between NC and CPN-UML has not yet been made public. According to Gurung, the two parties will make the agreement public "by tomorrow," after which the basis of the agreement will be made clear to everyone.
Even though the CPN-UML and the NC reached a preliminary agreement on issues such as ministry division, Gurung stated that the matter has yet to be finalised.
Earlier, the CPN-UML secretariat meeting on Wednesday requested that Prime Minister Prachanda open the way for the formation of a new government, claiming that the two major parties in parliament had reached an agreement to form a consensus government.
The meeting decided to support the NC-CPN-UML consensus and to invite other parties to join the national consensus government.
Leaders of the CPN-MC have said that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will not resign immediately but will take a vote of confidence in Parliament.
Meanwhile, CPN-UML has decided to withdraw support for the Dahal led government and recall its ministers from the government.
"We had given time to allow the Prime Minister to help form the national government. But he did not do that," said Mahesh Bertaula, CPN-UML chief whip. "Since the Prime Minister's resignation did not come, we decided to withdraw our support."
The Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal, led by Upendra Yadav, and the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party-Nepal, led by Mahantha Thakur, have responded positively to the Congress-UML power bloc. JSP-N has five legislators in the lower house, while LSP-N has four.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party, the fifth-largest party in the House of Representatives, has welcomed the agreement reached between the two major parties, which includes constitutional amendments.
The party has 14 MPs. According to reports, NC and UML will try to integrate RPP into their alliance.
On the other hand, leaders of the CPN-MC and RSP have stated that they will not participate in the government formed by the NC and CPN-UML.
On March 3, the alliance between the CPN-Maoist Centre and the Nepali Congress (NC) disintegrated, making room for the CPN-MC and CPN-UML to form a new ruling coalition.
A year prior to that, just before the presidential election, Dahal broke up the previous coalition that included the UML, CPN-MC, JSP-N, and CPN (US). This led to the formation of the current ruling coalition.
Dahal left the pre-election alliance with the NC and the CPN (US) on December 25, 2022, and was elected Prime Minister with the support of the CPN-UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party, RPP, Janata
Samajwadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N), Janamat Party, and Nagarik Unmukti Party after Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba refused to make him PM first.
Oli had assured NC that UML would not ally with the CPN-MC at any cost, but would instead form a new government with NC to encourage Deuba to break the agreement to make Dahal Prime Minister first.
