KATHMANDU, July 9

Senior CPN-UML leader and former prime minister Jhalanath Khanal on Thursday said it was his party’s chairman K P Sharma Oli’s turn to become prime minister of the country.

Addressing an interaction organised by Reporters Club Nepal here on Thursday, Khanal however clarified that the party had not yet decided to present Oli as its prime ministerial candidate.

“Though the party has not officially decided, it’s now chairman Oli’s turn to become prime minister because Madhav Nepal and I have already become prime ministers,” Khanal said.

He however said he wouldn’t reject if somebody offered him the top position of the country.

Asked about the internal conflict within the party due to Chairman Oli’s ‘unilateral’ decisions, Khanal admitted that the leadership had been violating the party’s policy and procedures.

“Sometimes the party’s policy and procedures might be violated by the leadership, but this will be managed through internal discussions,” he said.

Khanal said he was hopeful that things would be managed through internal discussions and would make maximum efforts to ensure collective leadership system in the party.

Senior leader Madhav Nepal’s faction has been publicly accusing Oli of violating the party’s policy of collective leadership and collective decision-making unilaterally.

“Running the party through majority instead of collective leadership will not help develop leadership within the party,” he added.

Showing the draft of the new constitution published in the Nepal Gazette, Khanal, who has always been claiming that the constitution will be drafted soon, today said the nation will get the constitution within 45 days.