Prime Minister Dahal holds discussions with ruling party leaders

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ held discussions with top leaders of the ruling parties on Friday.

Prime Minister Dahal engaged in collective discussions with the top leaders of the ruling coalition on Friday afternoon.

This comes after the CPN-UML and Janata Samajwadi Party withdrew their support for the Dahal-led government, with their ministers having already submitted their resignations.

Prime Minister Dahal is now in the minority.

However, he has informed the General Secretary of the Federal Parliament Secretariat that he will present a vote of confidence proposal in Parliament on July 12.

The discussions on Friday were to address the evolving political situation.

Among the participants were Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, who is also the Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Chairman of CPN-Unified Socialist, senior leader Jhalanath Khanal, and CK Raut, Chairman of the Janamat Party.

After the discussions, Home Minister Lamichhane mentioned that the party would deliberate internally about the vote of confidence.

Responding to journalists’ questions about whether the party would support the Prime Minister in the vote of confidence, Lamichhane said a conclusion would be reached after discussions with party leaders.

On Thursday, Rastriya Swatantra Party ministers went to Baluwatar to submit their resignations but returned after the Prime Minister requested them to stay until the confidence vote.

After discussions with Prime Minister Dahal, Unified Socialist Chairman Nepal confirmed support for the vote of confidence.

“We discussed the way forward. We will collaborate with the Maoists and not join any new alliances, as they are conspiratorial. We will support this government in the vote of confidence,” said Chairman Nepal.

Meanwhile, Chairman Nepal also mentioned having conversations with Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba, who informed him of an agreement with UML to form a government.

Chairman Nepal noted that he had not spoken with UML Chairman KP Oli.

NC and UML had discreetly agreed on forming a new government and advancing constitutional amendments on July 1.