Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala on Saturday defended his party’s efforts to change the government, saying the incumbent government has failed to manage the country. 

“The efforts by the main opposition party to change the government with the help of the third largest party in Parliament are quite valid,” said Koirala while speaking at a party programme in Dhulikhel. 

An NC move of creating a new alliance with the UCPN (Maoist) on Wednesday had almost made the incumbent coalition government fall. But the following day, a U-turn by the UCPN (Maoist), following negotiations with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s party CPN-UML, kept the current coalition intact.  

“National unity government is not necessary in a democratic system; one of the parties should stay in the opposition. A government without opposition is possible only in a country which is dominated by left forces,” added Koirala.

Stating that there are challenges when it comes to constitution implementation, Koirala said that genuine demands of the Madhes-based parties and Janajatis must be addressed at the earliest. 

He accused the government of being reluctant to resolve the problems of Madhes and claimed that only an NC-led government could resolve the crisis facing the country. 

On government decision to recall Nepal’s ambassador to India, Koirala said, “This is yet another example of government’s incompetence.”

The government on Friday decided to recall Ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay from New Delhi reportedly after the envoy expressed his displeasure with PM Oli at the government’s decision to cancel President Bidhya Devi Bhandari’s visit to India.