Ridigity over home ministry sours NC-UML ties
KATHMANDU, Feb 13: The relations between Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML have further soured as senior UML leaders have announced that they will not join the NC-led government and accused the NC of violating an understanding reached between the two parties over power-sharing.
Senior UML leaders have accused the NC of violating a two-party agreement under which the UML was to head the home ministry. NC leaders claimed they never reached any such agreement over the key ministry.
The prime minister brushed aside the UML´s claims, saying that NC leaders never conceded the home ministry to the second-largest party.
"We never reached any agreement about UML heading the home ministry," newly-elected Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told reporters while emerging from the Constituent Assembly (CA) building after attending a CA meeting, Wednesday.
Other senior NC leaders, including Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel, have also refuted UML claims about an understanding.
However, emerging from the CA meeting, UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal urged the leaders of the largest party to abide by the understanding and not undermine his own party´s role.
Relations between the two largest parties soured immediately after Koirala got elected with support from the UML and some fringe parties, Monday.
After the signing of a seven-point agreement between the two parties, NC proposed Koirala´s candidacy for prime minister and the UML supported the proposal.
But Koirala´s plans to form a small cabinet comprising both parties could not materialise even on Tuesday as the UML decided not to join the government, accusing the NC of violating their deal. The party´s standing committee decided not to join the government unless the NC turns ready to form a cabinet as per that deal.
There is no sign of any improvement in relations as the two sides have not even given continuity to bilateral talks since the last two days.
"There has been no dialogue since yesterday. We are firm in our party´s decision not to join the government until there is a situation where we can head the home ministry," UML Secretary Bishnu Paudel told Republica.
Asked about the prime minister´s denial of reports about a deal, Paudel said that Koirala could feel free to form and run the government even without UML on board. "We did our job by voting for him [Koirala] as per the agreement. Now, it is up to him to choose whether or not to abide by the agreement," said Paudel, who was closely involved in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, UML top leaders have convened a meeting with some of the smaller parties which voted for Koirala.
UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal, parliamentary party leader KP Sharma Oli and Vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam convened a meeting with Pashupati Shamsher JB Rana of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Chitra Bahadur KC of Rastriya Janamorcha, CP Mainali of CPN-ML and Chandradev Joshi of CPN (Samyukta), at the UML parliamentary party office at Singhadurbar, Wednesday.
During discussions with them, the UML leaders said the NC had betrayed them by violating the two-party agreement immediately after Koirala was elected prime minister.
"They told us that they were betrayed by the NC leaders as the latter were not ready to offer UML the home ministry," said Mainali.
NC, UML urged not to break alliance
Leaders of the smaller parties, during the discussions, urged the UML leadership not to break the alliance between the two largest parties, saying cooperation between them was needed in order to produce a constitution within a year.
"I urged them [UML leaders] not to disappoint the people by turning the CA into a battleground for power as in the past," said KC. "I suggested to them to give continuity to the NC-UML alliance so that a democratic statute can be produced in a year."
Mainali and Joshi also said that they advised the UML leaders to cooperate with the NC leadership mainly for the sake of expediting the constitution-making process. "They are the ones to know about any deal reached between the two sides. But we advised them not to break the democratic alliance," said Mainali.
