E-Kantipur

NOV 08 -

The Nepali Congress (NC) is prepared to claim the leadership of the next consensus government and a decision to this effect will be taken before agreeing on extending the Constituent Assembly (CA) beyond November 30, party srouces claimed.

Amid conflicting claims about a “gentlemen’s agreement” on power sharing, NC General Secretary and Spokesperson Prakash Man Singh said an NC-led government will be formed after November 30 “if the parties went for changing the government”. Some other leaders went on to claim that the NC would not support the CA extension “if otherwise”.

Talking to the Post on Monday, Singh also said Parliamentary Party (PP) leader Ram Chandra Poudel will be the party’s legitimate PM candidate. Though he did not rule out the possibility of party President Sushil Koirala being a candidate, he argued that as per the NC’s statute, the PP leader should be the party’s PM candidate.

This, however, conflicts with claims from some NC leaders, including Shashank Koirala, that Sushil himself is prepared to lead the next government and that Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has already agreed to it. A section in the party has long been floating this proposal as a solution to keep Poudel and Sher Bahadur Deuba from fighting and to ensure party unity.

Sushil’s aides, however, said he has not thought of it yet.

Singh, however, said Sushil’s candidacy was not a “better alternative.” He said the party’s decision during the last PM election to field Deuba as the candidate for a consensus government and Poudel for a majority government had drawn flak as it violated the party’s law.

“In the name of party unity, we cannot go on breaching the statute,” he said. On CA extension, Singh said NC’s position will depend on the progress made in implementing the “package deal”, which also includes power-sharing issues. Though he did not say whether NC will oppose the extension over government leadership, NC leader Sujata Koirala said at a programme on Monday that the party would oppose the extension in such a scenario.

If November 30 is the first date to trigger a change in the government leadership, completion of the peace and statute writing processes is another. “In both the cases, NC will claim government leadership,” Singh said. “NC’s claim is natural as both the Maoists and the UML have already led the government.”

Posted on: 2011-11-08 09:01

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