Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who has refused to step down despite his government being reduced to a minority and is set to face a no-trust motion in Parliament, on Monday told CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba that the parties should avoid the path of confrontation.

In his first meeting with Dahal and Deuba since the Maoist Centre withdrew its support to the government, PM Oli, according to his Chief Political Adviser Bishnu Rimal, urged the two leaders to withdraw the no-confidence motion and expressed his readiness to find a solution through consensus and dialogue. Oli is also said to have cautioned the two leaders that their insistence on pushing the no-confidence motion would further fuel polarisation among major parties.

But Dahal and Deuba, in response, are learnt to have told PM Oli that the latter should pave the way for the formation of a new government by stepping down graciously.

Reiterating his position, PM Oli told the two leaders that there was no provision [in the constitution] to elect a new prime minister.

According to Dahal’s aide Jokh Bahadur Mahara, PM Oli insisted that he would rather face the no-confidence motion as “there is no provision in the constitution to elect a new prime minister after his resignation”. Even if the no-confidence motion is endorsed by the House, the incumbent government will continue as a caretaker government, Rimal quoted PM Oli as telling Dahal and Deuba. Bhanu Deuba, an aide to Deuba, also said that PM Oli told the two leaders that there was no constitutional provision to elect a new prime minister.

On budget, both Dahal and Deuba told PM Oli that all the remaining bills of the budget “will be endorsed as soon as the prime  minister tenders his resignation”, according to leaders.