KATHMANDU, MARCH 4
The Nepali Congress held its office bearers' meeting to discuss its role in the formation of the next government, but didn't divulge anything.
NC Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma said the party had received an offer to lead the government but had not decided yet. Earlier, NC leaders had said that they had received offers from both factions of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) to lead the next government.
NC Central Committee member Ram Sharan Mahat said his party would take a call when the formal process would start in the House of Representatives to remove Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from his post and to form the next government.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Madhav Kumar Nepal faction of the ruling NCP, which had launched protest against the PM's bid to dissolve the House of Representatives by calling the move unconstitutional, autocratic, regressive and undemocratic, want to remove him from the post of prime minister.
Mahat said since the NCP split had not been recognised by the authority concerned, it was still an undivided party and as long as it would remain undivided, the NC would have very little role to play. "It is yet not clear how the rival factions of the NCP would move ahead. If the rival faction succeeds in changing the Parliamentary Party leader, Oli will be automatically relieved from the prime minister's post and the NCP can form its own government," Mahat said.
He added that the Dahal-Nepal faction leaders were saying the party had a role in electing the Parliamentary Party leader and if that was the case, then the president would have to appoint the new Parliamentary Party leader, who would be the next prime minister. He said the PM could also seek vote of confidence in the House. Mahat said his party had no problem leading the next government with the support of Dahal-Nepal faction of the NCP, but that should come as a formal proposal.
Spokesperson for the Dahal-Nepal NCP faction Narayan Kaji Shrestha said his party wanted to join hands with the NC and the Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal and his party had also told them to bring in their proposals if they had any with regard to the leadership of the next government.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 5, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
