The controversy within the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP) has been escalating of late.
The party led by Mahanta Thakur, which joined the coalition against the then Prime Minister KP Oli, has neither been in the government nor has been able to go against it.
Instead, LSP leaders have repeatedly threatened to withdraw support from the government.
Khabarhub’s Dhiraj Basnet talked with LSP leader Keshab Jha on the party’s latest strategy, among other issues: Excerpts:
You handed over an 11-point memorandum to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Does this signify that you are joining the government?
We have mentioned very clearly our demands in the 11-point memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister.
The memorandum does not talk about our party’s interest to join the government.
We supported this government on the condition that our demands would be met.
This time, through the memorandum, we have reminded the government to implement the agreement reached between us. Let’s not interpret the memorandum as a means to show our interest in joining the government.
Didn’t you discuss the issue of participation in the government with the Prime Minister? There are reports that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is trying to involve your party in the government.
In fact, the ultimate goal of every political party is to gain power. For that, you need to join the government. As we are also a political party, it does not mean that we will not join the government.
But our major concern is to get our demands fulfilled. Our issues have been ignored.
Regarding joining the government, we have not received any proposal on the issue.
As far as the meeting with Prime Minister Deuba is concerned, the meeting focused on our demands and issues.
We have reiterated our demands, including dismissing the false allegations against the party cadres, releasing the leaders who are currently serving jail terms, addressing the citizenship issue, and making the report of the Lal Commission public.
If the government fulfilled our demands, then the environment can be created to join the government.
Doesn’t you meeting with the Prime Minister at a time when rumors of a cabinet reshuffle have been going on mean you are in a rush to join the government?
Not at all. In fact, we were waiting for the government to fulfill our demands. To interpret our meeting with the Prime Minister as a race for power would be an insult to our sacrifices.
If we were in a race to join the government, we could have already joined the government.
It would be a mistake to interpret our party’s demand as a stepping stone to reaching power.
How long will you wait for your demands to be addressed? Will you withdraw your support to the government if your demands are not met?
We have received a positive response from the Prime Minister. He said he was serious about addressing our demands. Since we have already waited for 11 months, we will wait a little longer.
However, we will withdraw the support given to the government if it did not address our demands.
The government became one side. However, the government has intensified the meeting to join the coalition in the upcoming election to fight the election?
After suffering a loss in the local elections, are you trying to unite the party with the Janata Samajbadi Party?
This is wrong and unwanted. Have you ever heard of any of our leaders talking about unity with Janata Samajbadi Party? This is a ploy to defame our party.
Moreover, we don’t see any basis for party unity. How can there be unity with the party which created an environment for us to leave the party?
Comment