Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli asked not to blank the UML in the National Assembly.
PM Dahal said so during a meeting of four ruling parties held at Baluwatar on Wednesday afternoon. The top leaders of Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), Janata Samajwadi Party and CPN (Unified Socialist) took part in the meeting, which lasted nearly two hours.
PM Dahal, who is also the chairman of Maoist Center, talked about the National Assembly elections, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's visit starting Thursday and other matters at the meeting.
He also sought other parties' views on including UML in the National Assembly. Briefing the meeting about his conversation with UML Chairman Oli, PM Dahal said that Oli asked him not to isolate UML in the National Assembly.
Talking to journalists after the meeting at Baluwatar, Unified Socialist Vice-chairman Rajendra Pandey said that the leaders discussed sharing of seats for the National Assembly elections and other issues during the meeting. The ruling parties will meet again on Thursday morning for discussions, he added.
“Today’s meeting discussed how to share National Assembly seats; the matter has not been finalized. We’ll discuss again at 9 AM tomorrow,” Pandey said. "Twenty seats are falling vacant. The discussion is about which party in the coalition should take how many of the nine UML seats from among them. There’s talk that the parties will take their respective seats from the remaining vacant seats.”
According to Pandey, the meeting discussed whether to also include UML.
PM Dahal told the meeting that Oli asked him not to blank the UML, Pandey said, adding that they suggested moving ahead only after they are clear about what UML wants. Nepali Congress and Maoist Center are positive about including UML in the National Assembly.
The National Assembly elections are being held on January 25, with filing of candidacy scheduled for January 8.
The ruling coalition parties have agreed to field common candidates for the elections, but they have yet to finalize how many seats each party will get.
