Parties don’t want Maoist PM & Prez

Kathmandu, May 30: Signs of an early formation of a government in Nepal faded on Friday with the country’s two main political parties adamant that the Maoists cannot have their man as President as well as the Prime Minister.

The Nepali Congress, which leads the interim government, and Communist Party of Nepal-UML are determined to keep the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) away from bagging both the posts.

The two parties want the Maoists, who emerged as the largest party in the landmark Constituent Assembly polls last month, to leave one of the two top posts for the other coalition partners.

"The Maoists must leave the post of President if they want to take hold of the executive Prime Minister’s post," said CPN(UML) general secretary Jhala Nath Khanal.

He ruled out the possibility of a single party holding both the key posts of Prime Minister and President. "The days of the Maoists using their bargaining and threatening tactics to get their demands fulfilled are over," Mr Khanal said at an interaction programme.

In the absence of a clear majority, the Maoists could only claim the leadership of the government as the largest party but they would have to win support of other parties to forge a consensus," he stressed.

Mr Khanal’s remarks came at a time when the CPN(Maoist) deputy leader Baburam Bhattarai reiterated his party’s claim on both the key posts. Mr Bhattarai has threatened that the Maoists would sit in the Opposition if both the posts are not given to them.

Nepali Congress vice-president Gopalman Shrestha has also expressed the view that the former rebels should not be given both the top posts. "As the Maoists have failed to get even a simple majority their claim for both the key posts is impractical," he stressed.

Nepal’s political parties have agreed to create a separate post of a President who would act as the head of state, with the executive powers in the hands of the Prime Minister.

The President would be the supreme commander of the Nepal Army and have the powers to impose emergency in the country.

Mr Shrestha said the Constitution needs to be amended to allow the formation and ouster of government though a simple majority. —PTI