Deadline ends: Power-sharing issues stall efforts to form unity govt
President gives 3 more days to parties
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KATHMANDU, AUG 22 -
Fluidity over the formation of a national consensus government, even as the weeklong deadline given by President Dr Ram Baran Yadav expired on Sunday, continues.
The president has given three more days for the same after the parties requested him.
Despite broad understanding on the need to form a national unity government, differences over the peace process and the leadership of the next government between the UCPN (Maoist) and the Nepali Congress (NC) continue to thwart any move forward.
The Maoists say they are ready to display utmost “flexibility” on the issue of integration and rehabilitation as a trade-off for the leadership of the next government, but the NC continues to insist that the Maoists should hand over their weapons or accept Congress leadership until the peace process is concluded. But the NC remains divided. Though the party has forwarded Sher Bahadur Deuba as a consensus candidate and Ram Chandra Poudel, a majority candidate for the PM post, the party leadership wants to avoid being caught between the two leaders.
According sources close to Sushil Koirala, the NC president is in favour of supporting Maoist Vice Chairman and the party’s prime ministerial contender Baburam Bhattarai for now.
According to sources, Koirala feels that having Bhattarai as the next PM would avoid an internal fight in the NC, but at the same time, it will deprive the Maoists of any further argument on not completing the peace process.
Leaders close to Deuba argue that their candidate would adopt a flexible stance on the integration issue and would be best placed to conclude the peace process.
By Sunday evening, leaders of all major parties were reporting that the prospect of a unity government was becoming bleak—not because of the peace process, but because of power-sharing issues. But, yet, there was not a definite word on which the situation would tip.
“There is a lot of posturing in the negotiations, but the parties are also finding common ground,” said a Maoist leader.
Even when it comes to a majoritarian government, Maoist leaders appear confident that their candidate, Bhattarai, will secure support of the Samyukta Madhesi Loktantrik Morcha (SLMM) and form a majority government once the ball for electing the new government rolls in the
parliament.
Citing the party’s willingness to make a “breakthrough” on the peace process once they are elevated to the top position, they argue that the NC could join the Bhattarai-led government in the second stage.
Posted on: 2011-08-22 09:13
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