KATHMANDU: CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli has said that distributing positions such as prime minister and party chair before elections is absurd, asserting that the UML and the Nepali Congress will ultimately secure a majority after the polls.
Without naming him directly, Oli targeted Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah, referring to recent political agreements and speculation over prime ministerial claims. Oli said he initially assumed the person being discussed as a prime ministerial contender would be politically astute, but later found the decisions being made to be laughable.
“Recently, I heard rumors about distributing the post of prime minister. I thought the person whose name was being floated must be quite clever, but that does not seem to be the case,” Oli said, alluding to the understanding between Rabi Lamichhane and Shah.
“One person becomes party chair, another vice-chair, the party is handed to someone else, and one claims the prime ministership for himself. This is like distributing the post of prime minister during the incident when Singha Durbar was set on fire.”
Speaking at a program organized by the Madan-Ashrit Memorial Foundation to discuss the political message of the UML’s 11th general convention, Oli said that no matter how many individuals claim or distribute the prime minister’s post before elections, only the UML and the Nepali Congress are capable of forming a government afterward. “You hear different people distributing the prime minister’s post,” he said, “but is it really possible for anyone other than the UML and the Congress to form a government?”
Oli reiterated that the parliament, which he described as having been dissolved unconstitutionally, must be immediately reinstated. He said parliament is the legitimate forum to decide who forms or loses a government, and that its dissolution by an unconstitutional authority had pushed the constitution into crisis.
He added that the case regarding parliamentary reinstatement is currently under consideration at the Supreme Court, but stressed that a timely verdict is essential. “One cannot carry a single case for years,” Oli said. “Delayed justice is equivalent to denial of justice. Only by restoring parliament can the current political crisis be resolved.”
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