CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the presidential candidate will be finalized by Saturday.
Dahal made such remarks after holding talks with CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal at the Singha Durbar on Thursday. Maoist Center Senior Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who is also deputy prime minister, and Unified Socialist leader Ghanashyam Bhusal also participated in the meeting.
“Presidential candidate will be finalized by February 25,” Dahal told journalists after the meeting.
As per the election schedule, nominations for the presidential election should be filed on February 25. The election is scheduled to take place on March 9.
When asked if the pre-election coalition is being revived, Dahal said it has not been finalized yet.
Unified Socialist Chairman Nepal told Dahal during the meeting that he should be made presidential candidate.
In reply, Dahal told Nepal that he is ready to make him presidential candidate but he will have to discuss it with other parties, according to a leader present at the meeting.
Nepal told journalists after the meeting that they currently have different options and that they are discussing all of them.
When asked if he would be a candidate for president, Nepal said discussion was in progress.
“We have different options at present, we will choose whichever of them serves the country’s interests,” Nepal said, adding that how the country’s interests will be served is important rather than who will become president.
Unified Socialist leader Bhusal said during the meeting that their party’s role should be clear if the pre-election coalition is to be revived.
Dahal replied that all those issues should be discussed with Nepali Congress and other parties.
Leaders of four parties that were part of the coalition before the November 20 elections – Nepali Congress, Maoist Center, Unified Socialist and Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) – are holding a meeting on Thursday evening.
The meeting is being convened after Nepali Congress and Maoist Center reached an informal agreement on Wednesday evening to revive the pre-election coalition with the presidential election.
“The meeting is taking place this evening. The venue has not been finalized,” a Unified Socialist leader said.
JSP leaders are scheduled to hold talks with PM Dahal before the four-party meeting.
