KATHMANDU, February 1: The NPC Maoist Center has reached a “final result” that the Home Office should be kept for the party. The Maoists have come to the conclusion to stay with the Home Ministry after it was suggested to Prime Minister Prachanda at the officials meeting held on Monday and Tuesday and also at the Standing Committee meeting held earlier.
In general, the party that leads the government has a tradition of taking charge of ministries such as the Interior, Finance, Foreign Affairs and Law. But the government headed by Prachanda got none of these ministries when the power equation was adjusted.
In the meeting between Prime Minister Prachanda and UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Wednesday morning, the Home Office was also discussed. During the discussion, Chairman Oli told Prachanda about his complaint. At that time, Prime Minister Prachanda was of the opinion that it would be easier to work if the Home Ministry was with the leading party of the Government to fulfill the objectives and tasks set by the current government.
After hearing Prachanda’s words, Oli also replied that ‘that is true’. Sources say that in the conversation between the two leaders, they agreed that Lamichhane could be given another ministry instead of Home Affairs and a conclusion could be reached by holding a coalition meeting once.
In the discussion with Oli, Chairman Prachanda also informed Oli about the suggestions and pressures coming to his party. Prachanda himself has publicly stated that the leaders of the Maoist Standing Committee meeting and the Office Holders suggested to Prime Minister Prachanda that he should not relinquish the Home Office under any circumstances.
Rabi Lamichhane, who was also the chairman of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party during the formation of the government, was given the responsibility of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Secretary, but resigned after becoming involved in the citizenship dispute. Since then, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has assumed responsibility for the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, Lamichhane wants to return his responsibilities to the Home Ministry after reactivating his citizenship from the District Administration Office.
Although Lamichhane’s citizenship dispute has been resolved to some extent, his passport dispute is still ongoing and he has also lost his position as a Member of Parliament. Lamichhane wants to carry on Home responsibilities alongside the Deputy Prime Minister and says the constitution allows non-MPs to become ministers for 6 months and will be re-elected via by-election. Consequently, he has met several times with Prime Minister Prachanda and the coordinator of the high-level political mechanism, KP Sharma Oli, who is also the President of the UML.
The Maoists’ ‘bottom line’: keeping the Home Office anyway
