Valley
After deal, SSF-N to join fed govt
After signing a two-point agreement with the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) on Monday morning, the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal is all set to join the government at the centre.Tika R Pradhan
After signing a two-point agreement with the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) on Monday morning, the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal is all set to join the government at the centre.
After representation of the fourth largest party in the Cabinet, the KP Sharma Oli-led government will have a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives. The SSF-N has 16 members while the NCP holds 174 seats in the 275-strong Lower House. The government will have 190 members from the coalition while 184 makes a two-thirds majority.
“We had been waiting for the agreement for the last few months, after the party decided to join the government. After today’s deal, we’ll join the government at the earliest,” said Rajendra Shrestha, the SSF-N co-chairman.
NCP Co-chairs Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal and SSF-N chief Upendra Yadav signed the agreement in Baluwatar.
The communist party has agreed to address the SSF-N’s demands related to constitution amendment on the basis of mutual understanding. The government would address other concerns of the Madhes-based party in its policies and programmes.
In a positive gesture, SSF-N lawmakers withdrew their amendment proposals on the government’s policies and programmes on Sunday.
However, the two parties have yet to finalise ministries for the junior coalition partner. Two ministers and a state minister are said to be appointed from the party.
“We’ll decide the names of ministers once the ministries are confirmed,” Shrestha said, adding that discussions were on. While Oli was appointed PM three months ago, the SSF-N was said to be preparing to join the government. The party had difficulty selecting ministerial candidates given a high number of aspirants.