The decision of CPN (Maoist Center) to field its own candidate for National Assembly chair has created uncertainty in the ruling coalition.
Maoist leaders speaking in the standing committee meeting that concluded on Wednesday demanded rethinking on continuing the coalition with Nepali Congress (NC) following the decision of the grand old party’s recent Mahasamiti meeting to stop pre-election alliance. The Maoists pointing at the demand of over 1,000 Mahasamiti members for a Hindu state have also concluded that NC is growing regressive, and slammed the NC’s opinion about Maoist insurgency in the report presented by NC Vice-president Purna Bahadur Khadka.
Maoist Chairman and Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday has stated that NC has repeatedly betrayed the Maoists with the latest instance being in the National Assembly election in Koshi. “These three things that you have raised now are serious. Let’s not go for breaking the coalition right now, but prepare our own candidate for National Assembly chair. We should not give up,” a Maoist leader quoted Dahal as saying.
Maoist Spokesperson Agni Sapkota has also confirmed that the meeting decided to field the party’s own candidate for National Assembly chair.
A Maoist source has claimed that the main opposition CPN-UML is also positive about supporting its candidate for National Assembly chair, and Dahal and UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli have already held sufficient discussion on the issue.
UML expects Maoist support in the by-election to be held in Ilam-2 on April 27, and National Assembly vice chair in return for its support for the Maoist candidate.
Former NC general secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula who got elected from Koshi, is aspiring to become National Assembly chair. NC leader Shekhar Koirala and General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma have already publicly stated that Sitaula was made candidate to get him elected National Assembly chair.
But Maoist Center, whose candidate in Koshi Champa Devi Karki lost due to cross-voting in the ruling coalition, has been demanding the post pointing that it lost one seat in Koshi, and will not have any representative in the Constitutional Council if Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal were to make way for another coalition leader as per the agreement in the coalition to take turns as PM.
The coalition leaders have yet to decide about the post of National Assembly chair.
Maoist Center, which currently has 15 seats in the National Assembly, will now have 17 lawmakers in the Upper House once the term of newly elected members starts in March.
UML, that currently has 17 seats, has dropped to third from first with 10 seats despite it winning one seat in the recent election due to cross-voting in the ruling coalition.
NC, that currently has 10 seats, has become the second largest party in the National Assembly with 16.
CPN (Unified Socialist) will have eight seats while Janata Samajwadi Party will have three. Loktantrik Samajwadi Party and Rastriya Janamorcha have one each.
