KATHMANDU, JANUARY 4
Nepali Congress Spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said the current seven-party alliance led by CPN-Maoist Centre Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal was an opportunistic alliance whose life could be shorter than expected.
Speaking at a press conference organised by his party, Mahat said that the Dahal-led alliance was for securing opportunities and public posts. "It did not have any concern for the country," he added.
He said there were ideological differences between coalition partners, with some parties advocating monarchy and scrapping of federalism and others supporting republican order and federal system. These differences posed challenges to the survival of the alliance, he added.
Mahat said the alliance led by the NC contested parliamentary and provincial elections together as partners, but CPN-MC Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal left the alliance to join hands with the CPN- UML. "Dahal's firm assurances in favour of continuing the NC-led alliance during election campaign and his reiteration that he would not leave the alliance on the issue of the leadership of the new cabinet, gave the NC hope that the alliance would continue," he said.
Mahat said the NC-led alliance had won 136 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives, just two short of simple majority. "It is ironical that the party with most seats in the HoR was out of power and a party with much fewer MPs was leading the government. Maybe we will have to rethink about the election system," he added.
When asked whether NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba was responsible for the breaking up of the five-party alliance, Mahat said Deuba followed the central working committee's decision to form the government under the NC leadership.
When asked to respond to an NC faction's allegation that Deuba was responsible for the breaking up of the NC-led alliance, Mahat blamed the rival camp for causing friction in the alliance by demanding that the NC keep the posts of the prime minister and the president. It is believed that Dahal left the alliance after his party was offered none of the two key posts. Mahat said that his party would play the role of a constructive opposition.
The NC, meanwhile, decided to put off its CWC meeting planned for January 6 till January 12.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 5, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
