Kathmandu March 18

Coordinator of Naya Shakti Party-Nepal and former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai has said Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is mulling over a legitimate coup after amending the Security Council bill.

The bill was registered in the Parliament Secretariat for amendment.

Bhattarai said the army cannot be deployed even during massive disasters in the country without a meeting of the security council, but the new bill has a provision that gives the prime minister the right to deploy the army. Bhattarai said PM Oli is taking the country on the path of totalitarianism. “Oli has been centralising power and paralysing other state mechanisms, including ministries, thus killing democracy and institutionalising totalitarianism,” Bhattarai said in a press meet today at the party office.

Analysing the government’s one-year performance, Bhattarai said Oli’s government had completely failed to deliver services to the people, maintain peace and security and control corruption. “The economic index does not match the ‘happy Nepali, prosperous Nepal’ slogan, budget implementation during half of the year has brought frustration and irregularities and corruption are being institutionalised by the state mechanism” Bhattarai said.

Bhattarai also urged the government to amend the constitution to grant citizenship to British Gorkha Army personnel and bring a provision granting citizenship in the mother’s name. “Mothers are humiliated by the Chief District Officer when they seek citizenship for their children. The government should correct this and bring a provision that makes male and female equal,” he said.

Bhattarai said the government should release Resham Chaudhary from jail. According to him, the government had shown immaturity with its decision on the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal.  Bhattarai added that the Oli-led ultra-rightist force and the Chand-led ultra-leftist force were both on the wrong path. “The government is directionless and Oli’s working style is tending towards totalitarianism.”