Prez extends consensus govt deadline

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav today extended the deadline to form a consensus government by five days as per the request of political parties. “The President hopes that the parties will form a government by Wednesday by forging consensus,” Chakra Pandi Pandey, assistant spokesperson for the Office of the President, stated in a press release.

Twenty-three parties, including Unified CPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, today decided to seek five more days from the President for the formation of a new consensus government.

The seven days’ time, given by the President expired this evening. With the parties agreeing on seeking more time for the consensus government under

Article 38 (1) of the Interim Constitution, today’s scheduled Parliament session

was put off till Monday

as the Parliament had

no business to discuss.

However, five fringe parties – Rastriya Janashakti Party, Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi Devi), CPN-Unified, Chure Bhabhar Ekta Party and Socialist

Democratic People’s Party – declined to sign a petition to the President, for

extension.

The fringe parties sought a guarantee that the major parties would agree on forming the next government on consensus.

“It has been seven months since incumbent PM stepped down for consensus government,” RJP leader Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani said adding, “But they have failed to form a majority government, let alone a consensus one.”

The major parties had met only once on Thursday following the President’s one week deadline to forge consensus.

Post Bahadur Bogati, chief whip of UCPN-M,

said they agreed to request the President to extend

the deadline to forge consensus on Nepali Congress’s proposal during a meeting in which UML was also

present.

Bogati said NC and UML leaders told them that they were “open to discuss” the formation of a consensus government under Maoist leadership. He, however, expressed doubt over the NC’s and UML’s preparedness for forming government under Maoist leadership.

Emerging from the three-party meeting, UML Chairman Khanal said the three major parties might join the new government, irrespective of who may lead it.

The NC and UML had maintained that the Maoists could not lead the new government unless the party transformed into a civilian outfit and agreed to implement all agreements of the peace process.

The parties failed to iron out differences on the amendments to the Parliamentary regulations yet again.

UCPN-M and UML said NC still insisted that all PM’s proposals should be put together for voting and only the first two candidates must remain in the second run-off if the first round of election fails to yield result.