Cracks in Nepal ruling alliance, Maoists propose Prachanda as PM

The harmonious ties between Nepal's two main communist parties -- CPN (UML) and UCPN (Maoist) -- were on Wednesday set to end with the latter deciding to form a government under the leadership of party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda.

A meeting of office bearers of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on Wednesday morning decided to form a national unity government under the leadership of Prachanda and urged the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and other political parties to join the new government under his leadership.

This spells the end of the less-than-seven-month-old alliance between the Maoists and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) whose chairman K.P. Oli is the prime minister.

The Maoists have yet not formally announced the pulling out of support from the Oli-led government but a meeting of the party Standing Committee later on Wednesday evening was expected to take a decision in this regard.

The Oli government was, in any case, on the brink of falling within a couple of days as the largest party in parliament, the Nepali Congress, has already decided to initiate a no-confidence motion against the government, political observers pointed out.

The Nepali Congress has already reached out to the Maoists and other parties to topple the government within the monsoon session of parliament that began on Tuesday.

According to the plan, the NC and Maoists have a tacit agreement to prevent the Oli government from presenting the budget later this month.

The Nepali Congress, main opposition in Nepal's parliament, has already offered the premiership to Prachanda if NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba is not prepared to lead the new government.

The Maoists are in the mood to lead a national unity government, if possible, but in case of a majority government, it will support NC's Deuba, sources said.

The Maoists have accused the K.P. Oli government of having failed to implement the new Constitution, address the crisis in Nepal's southern Madhes region, expedite the post-quake reconstruction work, and promoted black marketing and corruption.

The Maoists have already warned Oli to correct his working style "or face the consequences".

Oli held a dinner meeting with the top Maoist leadership on Tuesday to mend ties but the prime minister's efforts appear to have gone in vain.

"We supported Oli so that he will keep national interests at the core, implement the new Constitution, bring a logical end to the peace process, and expedite the reconstruction work, but we could not make any tangible progress," said UCPN-Maoist vice chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha.

The UCPN-Maoist party has already reached out to other small political parties to form a national unity government under its leadership.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)

--IANS

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