KATHMANDU, DEC 21 -
The Nepali Congress has been a divided house over whether to enter into a partnership with the CPN-UML in sharing powers in the new political set-up.
In the ongoing Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting, some senior NC leaders have advised the party leadership that the UML
could be a reliable partner and the party should forge alliance with it. However, others have suggested caution while dealing with the UML given its troubled history with the NC .
The division surfaced on Friday at the CWC meeting as leaders expressed their views on the party leadership’s hobnobbing with UML leaders post-election.
Until last week, NC and UML top leaders had been deliberating on a power-sharing deal for new government formation. The negotiation, however, stopped following views in the NC that party leaders should consult internally before negotiating with the UML.
Senior party leader and CWC member Ram Sharan Mahat stood for an alliance with the UML and said that the party is a natural ally and the NC should not have second thoughts about it. “We should be ready for reasonable power-sharing with the UML. This is the people’s mandate too,” he told the meeting.
But another CWC member Khum Bahadur Khadka termed the UML as a “strong rival” and advised the party leadership to exercise caution while dealing with it. “We should be cautious while brining the UML on board,” Khadka said. Another CWC member Balkrishna Khad said the party leadership should be careful while reaching any deals. “We should not forget that the UML never sticks to its position and can betray any time.”
He urged the party leadership to act tactfully while clinching any deal.
However, the leaders also warned the leadership not to make any deal in haste and against party policy for the sake of consensus.
Another member Surendra Pandey said that the NC should embrace the UML for constitution-writing and try to accommodate all the forces. He opposed the nomination of businessmen under the proportional representation (PR) election category while honouring their contribution to the party.
Narayan Khadka, Mina Pandey, Minendra Rijal, Bal Bahadur KC and Minakshi Jha urged the leadership to bring the UML on board.
Most of the dozen CWC leaders who spoke in the meeting in Sanepa on Friday criticised the party leadership for frequently requesting extension of deadline for submitting final lists of PR candidates.
They expressed their concern that the deadline deferral had delayed the convening of the Constituent Assembly, which could consequently delay constitution-writing. They pressed the leadership to complete PR candidate selection by December 25—the new deadline.
Following calls from political parties, the Election Commission has extended the deadline twice since PR vote count was over on November 28. CWC member Nabindra Raj Joshi said their fear was that the statute-drafting process may not end in a year if the Assembly was not convened early.
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