The ruling coalition has discussed about the term of Madhes Chief Minister (CM) Saroj Kumar Yadav.
Top leaders of the ruling coalition including Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal discussed the issue in presence of CMs of all seven provinces at Baluwatar on Thursday.
CK Raut-led Janamat Party quit the Madhes government on January 23 and CM Yadav, who has been serving for the past 13 months, is constitutionally required to pass the floor test within 30 days from that day.
The coalition partners differ over the Madhes government with CPN (Maoist Center) demanding that Janata Samajwadi Party’s (JSP) Yadav should be replaced as CM while Nepali Congress (NC) has also been staking claim for the post. Janamat Party had also been staking claim for the post before it quit the government.
NC General Secretary Gagan Thapa, who attended the coalition meeting on Thursday, has confirmed that the coalition discussed how long Yadav should be continued as CM during the meeting.
Thapa has acknowledged that there is lack of trust among the coalition partners in Madhes and pointed that the coalition had agreed to take a new decision about Madhes government when JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav was picked as the common coalition candidate in the by-election held in Bara-2 in April 2023. “But the issue was not discussed later.”
The coalition partners on Thursday have stated that the lack of trust in Madhes should be addressed and the length of the respective terms of those who will take turns as Madhes CM should be finalized now before deciding about the floor test, according to Thapa.
The issue could not be finalized on Thursday as JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav was not present in the meeting, and the top coalition leaders will meet again to finalize the matter.
CPN-UML has 23 seats, NC 22, JSP 18, Janamat 13, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) and Maoist Center nine each, CPN (Unified Socialist) seven, and Nepal Samajwadi, Nagarik Unmukti Party and RPP one each in the provincial assembly.
