Valley
UML stands between PM and Parliament
He will; he will not. Confusion reigned supreme the whole day on Tuesday as information—in bits and pieces—came trickling in about Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s possible announcement of resignation through an address in Parliament.Binod Ghimire
He will; he will not. Confusion reigned supreme the whole day on Tuesday as information—in bits and pieces—came trickling in about Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s possible announcement of resignation through an address in Parliament.
A Parliament meeting called for 11am was postponed four times—until 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and then 7pm. Later in the evening, Speaker Onasari Gharti put off the House meeting until Wednesday after a meeting of the top leaders of major parties she had called failed to reach an agreement.
A customary group photo of the Council of Ministers after a Cabinet meeting in Baluwatar earlier in the afternoon came as an indication that PM Dahal was all set to announce his resignation in Parliament to pave the way for Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba to take over the government helm.
But protesting against Monday’s government decision of increasing the number of local units in Tarai districts, the CPN-UML warned of disrupting the House proceedings. The main opposition has described the government decision of increasing the number of local units weeks ahead of the scheduled second phase of voting as “unconstitutional”.
“The government cannot tweak the number of local units at this point of time. In addition, the decision is in violation of election code of conduct,” UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli said at press meet where he appeared vocally critical of NC President Deuba.
PM Dahal, who seems to have made up his mind to step down as per an understanding he had reached with Deuba in July-August last year, however, had an option of submitting his resignation to President Bidya Devi Bhandari.
But according to his aides, PM Dahal wants to announce his resignation through Parliament before submitting it to the President.
“He will first make an announcement of his resignation during his address in Parliament. He won’t directly submit his resignation to President,” Pampha Bhusal, spokesperson for the Maoist Centre, told the Post.
Since no agreement could be reached with the main opposition, it is not sure whether the House will resume on Wednesday, making way for PM Dahal to announce his resignation.
If the UML refuses to budge and continues to stick to its stance of obstructing House proceedings, this will be a first of its kind incident wherein the main opposition will be a stumbling block to a prime minister’s plan to resign.
The UML has maintained that a change in government leadership at this point of time could affect the second phase of polls and hence wants PM Dahal to continue until the June 14 voting. UML Chairman Oli on Tuesday during the press meet also took a potshot at Deuba, accusing the latter of having a lust for power and driving Dahal into a corner by continuously nagging the prime minister to step down.
Interestingly, a section in the NC also has been saying that Dahal should lead the government until the second phase of polls.