Valley
Not keen to join this govt: Cong
A day after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli urged the Nepali Congress (NC) to join the government, leaders of the main opposition on Friday ruled out any such possibility.Sarin Ghimire
A day after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli urged the Nepali Congress (NC) to join the government, leaders of the main opposition on Friday ruled out any such possibility.
Stating that the party is keen to forge consensus on such pertinent issues as elections, constitution implementation, Madhesi concerns and post-quake reconstruction, the leaders said the NC, however, will not join the government.
NC leader Arjun Narsingh KC claimed that it would be morally incorrect for the party to be part of “a government that has failed on multiple fronts”.
“We challenged Oli 10 months ago when we fielded our own candidate during the prime ministerial election; how can we join his government now?” KC wondered.
He added that the NC would lose its credibility if it joined the incumbent government that has but spiked black-marketeering, ignored the issues raised by the Madhesis and failed in post-quake relief and rehabilitation works. On Thursday, PM Oli had proposed a fresh power-sharing agreement to forge consensus among major forces and called on the NC to join his government.
When asked if the NC would be open to forming a new government instead of joining the Oli government, NC leader Prakash Sharan Mahat, a leader close to party President Sher Bahadur Deuba, said such possibility “could be explored”. “If the Maoists officially withdraw from the current coalition, then we can formally talk about the kind of government to be formed and under whose leadership,” said Mahat.
But for the NC, it is still a once bitten, twice shy situation. In May, the Maoist Centre, after almost deciding to change the government with the backing of the NC, had made a volte-face within 24 hours, much to the chagrin of the main opposition.