Deuba-Prachanda met, pushed coalition meeting

KATHMANDU: FEB. 17 – Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister and President of the Nepali Congress, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda,’ Central Committee Chairperson of the UCPN (Maoist), met.

According to Baluwatar sources, Deuba and Prachanda maintained their stand during the meeting held on Thursday morning.

The ruling coalition’s ‘decisive’ meeting was scheduled for 3 p.m. today, according to an agreement reached earlier on Wednesday.

However, the meeting has been postponed for two hours following the morning discussion between Deuba and Prachanda. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar.

The political crisis has arisen as a result of the coalition’s failure to reach an agreement on MCC. The Nepali Congress, the government’s leader, believes that the MCC should be given a table in parliament, whereas the Maoists believe that a national consensus must be reached for the MCC to be given a table.

If they are forced to be tabled in the MCC parliament, the Maoists have even decided to leave the government. Following that, Prime Minister Deuba stepped down from parliament on Wednesday.