Leaders of CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN-UML have started informal dialogue to explore chances of forming the next government.
UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli had called his Maoist counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal to congratulate him after election results arrived. Leaders of the two parties are engaged in dialogue since then.
UML Vice-chairmen Bishnu Paudel and Subash Chandra Nembang, and Deputy General Secretary Prithvi Subba Gurung are active from UML while Senior Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha and General Secretary Dev Gurung have taken initiative from the Maoist side.
UML politburo member Mahesh Basnet had also reached Dahal residence in Khumaltar a few days back while UML Secretary Raghubir Mahaseth also went there to extend greetings.
Paudel met Dahal outside his residence and urged the latter to take initiative for left coalition, according to a UML source, while Dahal also sent Shrestha and Gurung to Oli residence in Balkot to discuss prospects of left alliance.
Oli apparently is ready to form left alliance concluding that UML may have to remain outside the government for five years if the current ruling coalition continues, according to sources, but has demanded that the current ruling coalition be broken first for that.
He has become active as the posts of president, vice-president, speaker, deputy speaker, seven provincial chiefs, and provincial governments are all up for grabs along with that of prime minister (PM).
But Dahal wants to continue the current coalition and become PM at first. Nepali Congress (NC) President and Prime Minister (PM) Sher Bahadur Deuba and Dahal have apparently agreed about taking turns as PM but have yet to agree about who gets to lead the government first.
UML (78 seats) and Maoist Center (32) together will have 110 seats and can form a majority government with support of RPP (14), Janata Samajwadi Party (12) and CPN-Unified Socialist (10) easily crossing the magic number of 138.
Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane has also already met Oli and Dahal.
