BY Phanindra Dahal, Zhang Jianhua, Xinhua,
Kathmandu : Nepali political parties still remain in deadlock about the formation of new government, after the abolition of monarchy in the Himalayan nation.
“Unless the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) gathers a consensus and creates an atmosphere to form a new government, the present government will not be dissolved,” Ram Chandra Poudel, a senior Minister for Peace and Reconstruction said Sunday, after a multi-party meeting attempting to end the deadlock.
The CPN-M, which emerged as the largest party after winning 220seats in the landmark Constituent Assembly elections started on April 10 this year, is demanding the Girija Prasad Koirala-led Interim Government in last April be dissolved immediately.
“The new government will be only formed after the prevailing dispute over power sharing and election procedure for the president is resolved and weapons belonging to the CPN-M are properly managed,” Minister Poudel said.
The meeting representing 13 different parties in the newly elected Constituent Assembly failed to end the ongoing political deadlock on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Nepal became the world’s youngest republic after the Constituent Assembly in its first meeting voted to remove the almost 240-year-old monarchy and implement republic in the country.
The CPN-M has demanded both the posts of president and the prime minister to be given to them.
“If the president and prime minister are made from different political parties, there will be power sharing and the new government can not operate smoothly,” CPN-M second in command Dr. Baburam Bhattarai told reporters on Saturday.
“We have already made clear to other parties that we won’t go in government if they are not ready to give us both the posts,” he said.
But other political parties say they are not ready to give both the key posts to the CPN-M.
“The CPN-M has not got the majority needed to form the new government. They have their own army and weapons and they have not fully renounced their violence. So we fear if they get both the posts they will turn autocratic like former king Gyanendra,” the second largest party Nepali Congress leader and CA member Rambaran Yadav told Xinhua reporter on Sunday.
“The Prime Minister has formally requested them to take the initiatives of forming the new government. They have not got two-thirds as per the spirit of the Interim Constitution. So it is up to them to gather support from other parties to make a new government,” he added.
The Nepali government has already ordered former King Gyanendra to vacate the palace within 15 days on Friday. But Gyanendra, the last king of his Shah dynasty, still continued his silence.