KATHMANDU, APRIL 4
Senior Nepali Congress leader Ramchandra Paudel today met Co-chair of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal Mahantha Thakur and urged him to help form the next coalition government of the NC, CPN-MC and JSP-N.
According a JSP-N leader close to Thakur, Paudel said although party President Sher Bahadur Deuba was willing to lead the next government, his party could field someone else if required.
Thakur said the NC's decision to form the next coalition government under its leadership could stall the formation of the next government.
"Who should lead the government can be decided only after discussing issues among the possible coalition partners," Thakur told Paudel. He said his party's main concern was getting its demands addressed.
The JSP-N has demanded that the constitution be amended to address the concerns of Madhesis and other marginalised groups, the citizenship bill be enacted into law soon, and its lawmaker Resham Chaudhary and other leaders and cadres who were 'falsely' accused in criminal cases be released from jails and 'false cases' be withdrawn.
Thakur said his party had held multiple rounds of talks with the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led government and the talks were positive.
Paudel's personal aide Chiranjivi Adhikari said Paudel urged Thakur to hold talks with Deuba and CPN-MC Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal about their demands.
Meanwhile, the CPN- MC, which had called its standing committee meeting today to decide on withdrawing support to the Oli government, postponed the meeting. CPN-MC standing committee member Haribol Gajurel said today's meeting was postponed as five members were out of Kathmandu valley.
He said his party was holding discussions with other parties to figure out whether the next government could be formed.
Asked when the CPN-MC would decide on withdrawing support to the government, Gajurel said his party was weighing the prospects of forming the next government.
The CPN-MC, which wants to unseat Oli for his 'undemocratic, unconstitutional and autocratic' decision to dissolve the House of Representatives, is in a dilemma whether or not to withdraw support to the government. It fears that if it withdraws support to the government and a new government is not formed, Oli could dissolve the HoR once again.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 5, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
