Barely a week after the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML came together to form a new government, two general secretaries of the Congress—Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma—made chilling remarks on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, the UML leader, on Saturday.

With the backing of Congress, the single largest party in the House of Representatives, Oli was sworn in for his third prime ministerial stint on Monday. He is scheduled to seek a vote of confidence in the House on Sunday.

Thapa said that they have “doubts” and “suspicions” over whether Oli will hand over the premiership to his party as per the agreement reached between the prime minister and the Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba. Ahead of government formation, Oli and Deuba signed a seven-point deal on July 1 outlining the power-sharing agreement between the two largest parties. Under this, Oli will lead the government for the first two years and Deuba will become the prime minister for the remaining time—until the holding of the general elections in 2027.

Sharma said that the Congress should not remain silent on the issues and controversies surrounding Oli. The UML chairman was dragged into the Jhapa-based Giri Bandhu land scam in particular, an issue the Congress strongly raised in Parliament while the UML was in the government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Now in the Oli government, many have voiced concerns whether the largest party will continue to raise the issue of Giri Bandhu land scam.

Both general secretaries were not involved in the negotiations when Oli and Deuba assigned their close aides to work out their partnership in government. “So they are venting their ire and frustration,” a leader close to Deuba said. “Both Deuba and Oli are determined and committed to implementing the agreement they signed.”

Thapa said the Congress rank and file harbours suspicions whether Oli will hand over the power to Deuba. Addressing a function in Kathmandu on Saturday, Thapa, who took the news of the Congress and the UML agreeing to form a coalition as a surprise, said what the general people will get from the government of the two largest parties is more important than the political stability they have promised.

Political stability should deliver gains in the economy and good governance, he argued. Tired of frequent changes in government, the two parties had agreed not to change the government until 2027. In the first phase, Oli is agreed to be the prime minister for two years. Deuba will then govern for the remaining time of the House. “But we doubt whether this agreement will be respected,” said Thapa.

Oli’s past, his nature and attitude give room for this kind of suspicion but the prime minister knows very well that this is the last time for the Congress and the UML to correct the political course, Thapa argued. “Oli has appointed good experts as advisers so we are confident he is serious this time about delivery.”

Pointing to Dahal, the CPN (Maoist Centre) leader with 32 seats in the House, who ran the government for one and a half years riding the backs of the UML and the Congress alternatively, Thapa said the current political situation had resulted from the betrayal by the senior party leaders against each other. “They deceived and lied to each other 15 to 16 times in the past.”

The level of mistrust and perceived deceit was so high that the two parties came together to oust Dahal, Thapa said. “The prime minister should make the seven-point deal public. The government should dispel suspicions and both parties should be committed to the agreement,” he added.

The parliamentary parties of the Congress and the UML have already endorsed the seven-point deal and vowed to implement it though the content of the agreement has not been made public.

General Secretary Sharma said the two-party deal should shield no leader from corruption and irregularities.

The Congress will not remain silent on the issues it raised against Oli in the past, Sharma said at a function in Kathmandu on Saturday. “We will work to make the Oli government successful but we will not remain quiet in his weakness.”

Both Oli and Sharma are elected representatives from Jhapa district, where the Giri Bandhu Tea Estate is located.

“We will extend all possible support to the Oli government to make it successful. We will give the vote of trust too but that does not mean we will close our eyes when a controversy related to Oli surfaces,” said Sharma.