National
Clear way for new government, left alliance tells PM Deuba
Chiefs of the allies CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) have charged the Nepali Congress-led government with needlessly creating legal hurdles instead of smoothly transferring power to a new government.Chiefs of the allies CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) have charged the Nepali Congress-led government with needlessly creating legal hurdles instead of smoothly transferring power to a new government.
Left alliance leaders KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal organised their first ever joint press conference after their electoral victory, on Sunday, to make public their position on the impasse that threatens to delay the transfer of power.
“There is no constitutional hurdle to forming a new government,” UML Chair Oli said. The alliance has asked the government not to wrongly interpret the constitution, nor to create hurdles to smooth implementation of the constitution but to make way for a new government respecting the people’s mandate.
Addressing a press meet attended by dozens of party cadres and leaders, the two leaders denied any legal or constitutional obstacle to formation of a new government.
Amid calls from some quarters for electing the National Assembly before appointing candidates to the proportional representation (PR) seats of the House of Representatives, Oli and Dahal stressed that the procedures of forming the two houses were independent of each other.
The NC has appealed to the President not to put the ordinance on upper house election on hold, arguing that the National Assembly was essential for government formation.
“Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has done a commendable job by conducting the polls but he should not let the credit slip out over the greed for a few appointments,” said Maoist Centre Chair Dahal.
Former prime minister Dahal met PM Deuba on Saturday and urged him not to make any political and constitutional appointments without consulting with the major parties. In the meeting, Deuba had accused Oli of pressing the President not to authenticate the ordinance warning that it could delay the power handover process.
At the press meet, Oli, who is widely believed to be the next prime minister, accused the NC-led government of trying “to change the rule after the game had begun”. Referring to the ordinance, Oli said the government had failed to introduce the bill when the Legislature-Parliament was in session but had come up with the
ordinance later without consulting with the parties.
“What if the government brings anything through ordinance,” Oli asked, warning of consequences if the incoming parliament failed to approve the ordinance. He urged the prime minister not to press the President to authenticate the “unconstitutional” ordinance while suggesting that the head of state should not pass the ordinance.
On the single transferable vote (STV) system of electing members of the upper house, Oli argued that the constitution does not recognise it.
Asked how the two parties would form the government and forge unity, the two
leaders said they would work on party unification while the task of forming the new government progresses. Stating that becoming the PM or the party chief was not their sole goal, the two leaders said they wanted to serve the people.