Kathmandu, June 24:

Senior leader of the Nepali Congress (NC) Sher Bahadur Deuba today said Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala would submit his resignation in a constitutional manner after the election of the president.

Speaking at a function organised by Nepal Tarun Dal, the youth wing of the NC, Deuba said: “PM Koirala will not hand over his resignation to Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. No individual has the right to ask the PM to resign. It, however, does not mean that Koirala will not resign. He will do so only after the President is elected.”

He blamed the Maoist of trying to defame Nepali Congress by saying that the NC wanted to cling onto the power. “The NC does not want to stick to the government by violating the people’s mandate. But, the party has the responsibility to fight for the rule of law and democratic norms. Therefore, it will quit the government in a constitutional manner. This is possible only after a President is picked,” he said.

Deuba claimed that his party has won an ideological battle. “We brought an armed force to the parliamentary system. But there are still lot of challenges left,” he told the party activists while asking them to be ready for new fight for democracy, individual and human rights.

Stating that the NC was going through a tough phase, Deuba said: “We may have to face tougher days ahead, as there is no guarantee that Maoist will not try to impose totalitarianism.”

Party general secretary Bimalendra Nidhi said that the NC wanted to include opposition leader in the National Defence Council to ensure that state security agencies are not mobilised for the benefit of any political party.

“If Maoist do not have any intention to mobilise the law enforcement agencies for the the party’s benefit, then why are they afraid of having the opposition party leader in the NDC?” he questioned.

“There is no guarantee that Maoists will not mobilise the security agencies for their benefit. The party (CPN-Maoist) has a history of forming its army to fight for political causes,” Nidhi argued.