The ruling CPN (Maoist Centre) has asked its lawmakers to vote in favour of the impeachment motion it registered in Parliament jointly with the CPN (UML) against chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority Lokman Singh Karki.

The party also concluded that Karki should be impeached. The Maoist Parliamentary Party meeting decided on Sunday to press ahead with the impeachment process, said party leader Agni Prasad Sapkota.

The party issued a whip to its lawmakers to vote in favour of the impeachment motion. Earlier, some of

the Maoist MPs had said

their signatures collected

for a different purpose were used to register the impeachment motion.

Party Chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had briefed the meeting about the decisions of the party’s Central Committee taken on Saturday and urged lawmakers to stand for Karki’s impeachment. The CC meeting had authorised Dahal to take decisions necessary for the impeachment process.

Dahal said he would hold discussions within and outside the party on the “important but critical” move that his government faces at the moment. He also directed the Maoist lawmakers to attend all the parliamentary meetings until the conclusion of the impeachment process.

After his hour-long meeting with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Sunday, Dahal decided to go ahead with the impeachment process, party leaders said. The PM, however, did not brief the party on his talks with the president of the largest party.

As the NC has yet to take a decision on the matter, Dahal and Deuba are said to have agreed to the alternative of pressing suspended CIAA chief Karki to resign from the post.

The PM also held talks with UML Chairman KP Oli, discussing ways to forge political consensus on the matter. Dahal said his talks with the NC leaders had been positive.