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Journalism of Courage
Maoists in Nepal on Tuesday threatened to quit the ruling coalition by Wednesday if Premier G P Koirala did not step down immediately to pave the way for them to form the next government, five days after their ministers resigned en masse over differences on power-sharing.
A high-level meeting of the CPN-Maoist decided that the former rebels would quit the multi-party alliance by tomorrow if Koirala did not resign by today and a way out of the current political deadlock was not found, Maoists’ deputy commander and assembly member Barshaman Pun said.
The latest Maoist move came after seven of their ministers quit the government on Thursday in a bid to pressurise Koirala to step down.
Nepali Congress party of Koirala has also proposed that the veteran politician be made the first president of the republic Nepal, which is not acceptable to Maoists.
“We are ready to show flexibility to resolve other issues including managing our army but we cannot accept Prime Minister Koirala or Madhav Kumar Nepal (of CPN-UML) as the president” as proposed by their parties, Pun said.
“If we fail to reach a consensus on the issue of power- sharing, including the top post of President, we will quit the government and involve ourselves in the constitution drafting process,” he said.
The Maoists favour Ramraja Prasad Singh, a Madhesi leader, for the post of president.
However, Nepali Congress General Secretary Bimalendra Nidhi said if the Maoists, being the largest party in the Constituent Assembly, has staked claim for the post of executive Prime Minister, then the NC, being the second largest party, has the right to claim the post of President.
Similarly, the third largest CPN-UML can get the post of Chairman of Constituent Assembly, he said.
