Former prime minister and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, who is set to become prime minister next week, defended his seven-point deal with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba. However, Oli said that the intricacies of constitutional amendments, which the two largest parties have reportedly agreed to in principle, have yet to be finalised.

Speaking at a meeting of the party’s secretariat on Wednesday, Oli said that the two parties have agreed to the need to amend the constitution to protect national interests, make Nepal prosperous and the Nepalis happy, but the details have not been worked out.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is set to go for a floor test on Friday after the UML and some other coalition partners withdrew their support to the government. As per the agreement reached between Deuba and Oli on July 2, the UML chair will become the prime minister early next week.

Giving reasons why the first and second largest parties in the House of Representatives had come together for government formation, Oli stated that the current tendencies to allow private and partisan interests to dominate state affairs, and fringe parties with few lawmakers claiming the post of chief minister and their unusual manoeuvrings needed to be defeated by the partnership of the two parties.

Deuba has already endorsed Oli as the next prime minister. The two parties will have a more or less equal number of Cabinet ministers, though they have yet to enter into the power-sharing deal.

“Some are trying to create an illusion about the agreements signed between the Nepali Congress and the UML. Some were trying to pay their lip service to amending the constitution, but they actually engaged in making the constitution a failure. In due course of time some constitutional provisions should be revisited, so we have stressed the need for amendments,” said Oli.

After the meeting, UML deputy general secretary Pradeep Gyawali said the statements made by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane were not true. After the government decided to open more cases of corruption targeting top leaders of the Congress and the UML, the two parties came together overnight to topple the government, Dahal and Lamichhane have said publicly.

But that is merely a political stunt, said Gyawali. Who stopped them from opening corruption cases in the last four months?

“Prachanda ji had been in the government for 10 months [until he pushed the Congress out of the coalition], but what stopped him from opening the corruption cases? Rabi ji became the minister for six months over two terms. What stopped him from investigating the cases?” Gyawali asked. “These are only stunts. After failing to run the country and the government [effectively], they need some excuse which they are making. They kept saying this in the past week.”

There is a large section, including the CPN (Maoist Centre) and others, that has critically taken the issue of charter amendment. But we have not discussed which constitutional provisions will go for the changes, he said. Those constitutional reforms will be based on the experience of a decade. The constitution was promulgated in September 2015. The agreement between the Congress and UML to amend it has made the political fraternity and activists and observers curious.

No agreement has been reached on who will lead the commission that will suggest amending and reforming the constitutional provisions, he added.

“Some are trying to create an illusion after the Nepali Congress and the UML came up with a deal. They are also saying that the agreement has taken the constitution towards anarchy, political instability and confusion. We see the governments in provinces are changing frequently or every month. Private and partisan interests dominated, instability and bargaining were rampant, and parties frequently changed the camps,” Oli shared his observation. “Development activities, necessities and requirements of the people had never been at the centre, but corruption and instability were dominated and rampant. So, how can we stop such a tendency? That is why we, the Nepali Congress and the UML, came together,” said Oli.

Any attempt to fail the constitution, and weaken federalism is not accepted, he said the constitution is the dynamic document; it should guide society so the constitution should be amended as per the context of the time.

Oli is all set to become the prime minister by early next week, but the Nepali Congress and UML have not settled the power-sharing deal, including the division of the ministerial portfolio, according to Oli.

Oli said the power-sharing deal will be concrete only after the new government takes shape. “We will try to bring more parties into the government. We are in discussion with them. In general, the allocation of the ministries will be made as per the strength of the political party,” he added.

The division of ministerial portfolios will be decided only after Friday or after Prime Minister Dahal fails to get the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives.

The UML has issued a whip to all its lawmakers to vote against Dahal on Friday.

Oli told the party meeting that smaller parties are also likely to join his government, according to one UML leader. There was a general understanding between the Congress and the UML of dividing 19 ministries between them.

From the UML, Bishnu Poudel will be in the government as the finance minister. But there is no decision in the Congress on who will lead the party’s ministers in the Oli cabinet. It could be the party general secretary Gagan Thapa or one among senior leaders like Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Prakash Man Singh. Deuba wants Ramesh Lekhak to serve as the home minister, a leader close to the party president said.

Oli is in a mood to form a governing team of both experienced and new faces, UML leaders said. Choosing ministers is more difficult for Deuba due to multiple power centres in the party led by Thapa, Sitaula, Singh and Shekhar Koirala. There is also the need to balance gender, region, and ethnic clusters in the party’s picks.

The Congress has already endorsed the two-party deal. Oli is tipped to lead a ‘national consensus government’ for a year and a half, before handing the reins over to Deuba who will lead the administration until the general elections in 2027.

Deuba and Oli have also agreed to review the electoral system, proportional representation, the composition of the National Assembly, and the size of provincial assemblies. The Congress and the UML will lead three provincial governments each, leaving the provincial government in Madhesh that is led by CK Raut’s Janamat Party.