KATHMANDU: CPN UML leader and former Home Minister Bhim Rawal has claimed that senior party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal will be elected as the new Chairman of the party from the upcoming general convention of the party.

Speaking at a press meet organized by Press Chautari, Kailali, Rawal said that Nepal poses qualities to work closely with all leaders of the party and claimed he would be best party leader to head the party.

While stating that the general convention will be organized in June/July, Rawal said that he would be contending for executive member position in it.

On a different note, Rawal criticized the government for the inability to nominate 26 members to the CA. Responding to the concerns put forward by local journalist in relationship to the development of Far Western region, Rawal pledged to take initiative for increasing budget of the region.

KATHMANDU: Contentions among Nepal’s political parties over provisioning threshold laws in CA election ordinance. UCPN Maoist leader Top Bahadur Raimajhi on Saturday opined that the threshold regulations should be included in the CA election bill while speaking at the Reporters Club Nepal in Kathmandu.

Raimajhi said lack of such laws would negatively impact the party-based politics in the long run at the interaction program presided by Club’s President Rishi Dhamala.

He said such laws will discourage the practice of opening political parties without any public support.

In a different context he suggested that the new CA should have 491 members argueing that the number of the MPs should be determined without adding burden to the national budget.

Commenting on the possible date for the CA elections, he said that the CA elections should be held in November and even said that the CA elections will be held disregarding any political party opting out of it. Referring to the CPN Maoist and its 33 political parties warning of not participating in the elections, Raimajhi said that the CA elections will be held at any cost.

Though Raimajhi said that the present government has no opposition to hinder its objective of holding CA elections, he doubted the President and the Regmi-government’s intentions of holding CA elections.

Speaking at the same program Nepali Congress leader Arjun Narsingh KC accused the UCPN Maoist of averting the CA elections. He said that the activities of the party were against the spirit of holding CA elections and said that the Maoists were trying to foil the CA elections environment by pointing to other political parties agenda.

While stating that the government and major parties should try to bring all dissenting political parties into cofindence for participating in the CA elections, KC said that preparations to hold the elections should be carried out further without succumbing to any pressure from the dissenting political parties.

KC also said that the provisions of threshold should be included in the CA elections bill and that the number of MPs in the new CA elections should not exceed 491.

Speaking at the same interaction program, CPN UML politburo member Bhim Rawal also ruled out any compromise in provisioning threshold laws in the CA elections bill. Terming the whole effort to remove threshold laws as a move towards party less system, Rawal said that such provisions should not be removed at any cost.

However, President of the Rashtriya Madhesh Samajwadi Party, Sharat Singh Bhandari opposed the provisioning of threshold laws in the CA elections bill. He claimed removing threshold laws is important to hold meaningful elections and warned that the CA elections can’t be held if their 13 point demands were not addressed.

KATHMANDU: The Kathmandu Valley Coordination Committee of the CPN-UML has started preparations for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) elections from today.

The committee is organising an extensive cadres’ meeting of Kathmandu Valley today under the campaign.

The meeting was called to exert pressure to declare date for the CA election and to demonstrate unity among the party leaders and encourage the party cadres morally, said Secretary of the committee, Sanu Kumar Shrestha.

The UML would mobilize the party cadres raising the issues of public concern in the election campaign by learning lesson from the party’s defeat in the previous CA election, said Secretary Shrestha.

UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal, senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, General Secretary Ishwor Pokhrel, and Secretary Yubaraj Gyawali, among others, are scheduled to address the programme.

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister’s political advisor Devendra Poudel has said that the Chief Justice Khila Raj Regmi-led election government would be formed by Friday.

He said, “Consensus will be forged as we all are presenting ourselves by being maximum flexible. CJ-led election government will be formed by Friday,” he said speaking at an interaction program organized by Reporters Club.

The UCPN (Maoist) leader also revealed that the Prime Minister held frequent talks with Chief Justice Regmi regarding the leadership of the new government. “Chief Justice has never said that he will not become the new Prime Minister.

He also added that Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai has also discussed with Regmi this morning over the same issue. “There is no problem as rumors are in the market,” Poudel claimed.

He also ruled out the possibilities of chances of consensus in other options if the CJ-led government was not formed and the parties disagreed on this agenda.

Club’s Chairman Rishi Dhamala presided over the program. However, Nepali Congress leader Sujata Koirala said the parties’ attempt to form the CJ-led government would be a backfire for the political parties.

Dissatisfied with the CJ-led government after the party’s top three leaders nod on the Maoist proposal, Nepali Congress central leader Sujata Koirala has said that the NC was becoming like an anti-democratic political party due to some authoritarian decisions of the party’s bigwigs.

She also said that the NC general secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula and some leaders were making their last ditch to impose dictatorship in the country.
Koirala claimed that the party’s central committee meeting did not entrusted the party’s top leaders—Sushil Koirala, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Poudel—to take a decision on the CJ-led government.

She also expressed her disapproval to the CJ-led government adding that the parties were attempting to give birth to the authoritarianism by giving the entire rights to a single person.

Also speaking at the same program, UML leader Bhim Rawal said there was no problem from the UML side on the CJ-led government. “If the CJ-led government was not formed, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, UCPN (Maoist) and Madhesi Morcha would be blamed,” Rawal added.

He also claimed that other parties agreed on the CJ-led government as the Bhattarai-led government time and again committed anti-national steps.

KATHMANDU: The Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) on Tuesday have rejected the UCPN (Maoist)’s proposal to form an election government under the leadership of sitting Chief Justice.

On Monday, major political parties had agreed to form the election government under the leadership of an independent figure, most likely the sitting Chief Justice, to hold the CA elections by May.

The UML took such decision by holding an emergency meeting of the central committee members available in the capital while the NC leaders aired their voices against the CJ-led government at the party meeting today.

The leaders stressed for searching for other option including forming a new government under the leadership of a political figure from within the party. “The NC even should be ready to quit its stance if the parties agree on to form the government under the leadership of the political figure,” the NC leaders told at the meeting.

NC senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba also said that the leaders have been airing their voices against the CJ-led government.