Top leaders of NC are in mood to keep President & Speaker & give PM to Maoists

KATHMANDU: Sher Bahadur Deuba, President of the Nepali Congress and Prime Minister, is determined to lead the new government himself. Deuba is on the verge of becoming prime minister in the first phase of the power coalition’s discussions and meetings about the formation of a new government.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the chairperson of CPN (Maoist Centre), another main component of the alliance, has maintained that he should be able to lead the new government. Due to the stance of Deuba and Dahal, no solid agreement could be reached regarding the formation of a new government and the distribution of power.

However, the top leaders of the Congress are in favor of forming the government by giving the Prime Minister Maoist. According to the sources, all the top level leaders are in favor of the first Prime Minister Prachanda. “The top leaders are of the opinion that the President and Speaker of the Congress should be retained,” said one of the leaders, “They insist on forming a government of the current coalition by giving the Prime Minister to the Maoists.”

Now a meeting of the ruling coalition has been called to be held shortly. In the meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence, Baluwatar, the leadership of the government and the position of the Congress on the issue of power distribution will be discussed. The ruling coalition has not been able to reach a consensus on whether the leadership of the first phase of the government will be taken by the Congress or by the Maoists.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has given a deadline to the parties to present their claims under the leadership of the government within 5 pm today. Leaders are active in trying to reach agreement within the same time. Earlier in the morning, Congress top leaders have engaged in internal discussions to come up with the unified view of the party.