CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that some serious decisions made by the caretaker government going beyond its jurisdiction would be revoked.

Dahal’s statement toes the line taken by the CPN-UML, which on Thursday voiced its opposition to the government’s fresh decisions that have courted controversy. As the leftist alliance, the UML and the Maoist Centre have together swept the recently concluded federal and provincial elections.

UML Chairman Oli, who is tipped to be the next prime minister, has warned of revoking the decisions made by Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Cabinet after a new government is formed.

“It doesn’t mean that all the decisions of the government will be revoked. The new government can revoke some decisions having long-term consequences and those going beyond the jurisdiction of the caretaker government,” Dahal told a press meet in Chitwan on Saturday.

Accusing the incumbent government led by Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba of defying the fresh popular mandate, the Maoist chief claimed that some decisions of the caretaker government would haunt the Nepali Congress for a long time to come. The decisions of serious nature have raised questions over the democratic character of the NC, said Dahal. On the recent decision of the government to accord martyr status to the Bandarmude victims, who died in a bomb blast during the Maoist insurgency, Dahal said there should be political consensus on such matters. 

“The process of declaring martyrs by the government unilaterally is not good. There have to be standards for declaring martyrs,” said Dahal, clarifying, however, that he did not object to the victims being declared martyrs in particular.

Thirty-eight people were killed and 75 others injured when the then rebel Maoists ambushed an overcrowded bus at Bandarmude in Madi, Chitwan, in 2005.

In another context, Dahal said that a new government of the left alliance would be formed by the end of February. The unification process of the Maoist Centre and the CPN-UML would conclude before the new government is formed, he claimed.

“Discussions are going on to take the Madhes-based parties on board the left government. There is probability of the Madhesi parties joining the Cabinet with possible consensus on amending the constitution,” said the former prime minister.