Even as some Nepali Congress leaders and the main opposition CPN-UML want Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to hold the second round of local level elections on June 14, the PM is preparing to step down in favour of NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba “in a few days”.
Even as some Nepali Congress leaders and the main opposition CPN-UML want Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to hold the second round of local level elections on June 14, the PM is preparing to step down in favour of NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba “in a few days”.
Some leaders of the ruling NC have argued that holding one election by two different prime ministers would be inappropriate.
They claim that the government change could take weeks at a time when the scheduled polls are drawing near. PM Dahal has won accolades for conducting the first-phase polls successfully.
NC leader Shekhar Koirala told the Post that there would be distractions in preparation for the elections if the largest party was engaged in selecting its ministers when it should be busy with deciding poll candidates and managing disputes among the aspiring contestants.
Dahal’s press adviser Govinda Acharya said the PM has already prepared the statement he will read out in Parliament for announcing his resignation.
According to the NC president’s personal aide Bhanu Deuba, PM Dahal is expected to announce his resignation during a parliamentary address on Tuesday.
“PM Dahal is set to quit the day Deuba asks him,” Acharya said, adding that some NC and UML leaders were claiming that a change of guard could hamper the second round polls as formation of a new Cabinet would take time.
UML leader Subas Nembang said the PM’s resignation could distract the government’s attention from the local polls at a time when even a junior government employee cannot be transferred or recruited due to the election code of conduct.
In an interview on Saturday, PM Dahal said he would not quit without ensuring the second-phase local level elections while clarifying that the agreement with the NC would not be violated at any cost.
However, Dahal would be happy to conduct the second phase vote if Deuba so wishes, which seems unlikely as the NC president “is eager to be the PM soon”.
The CPN (Maoist Centre) has called a meeting of the party headquarters on Monday morning to discuss the issue.
Tika R Pradhan is a senior political correspondent for the Post, covering politics, parliament, judiciary and social affairs. Pradhan joined the Post in 2016 after working at The Himalayan Times for more than a decade.
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