The Nepal Congress (NC) has said that the decision to join the government will be taken after discussion with Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
The ruling coalition formed on Christmas Day fell apart in two months and the largest party in the CPN-UML coalition decided to withdraw its support for the government on Monday. A total of 16 ministries remain vacant with the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), RPP and now UML resigning from the government and Dahal will now have to retake the floor test.
“A new situation has been created as of today with the UML decision to withdraw support and resign from the government,” NC spokesman Prakash Sharan Mahat told Setopati. “PM would take the lead on issues like NC joining the government and calling a meeting.”
He revealed that the eight parties, including NC, CPN (Maoist Center), Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), CPN (United Socialist), Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP), Janamat Party, Rastriya Janamorcha and Nagarik Unmukti Party, in deciding to field the candidate. The joint presidential coalition had agreed on Friday to give Prime Minister Dahal a vote of confidence if he got into trouble.
He said the eight parties would now have to meet and decide how to move forward, and issues such as joining the government would be discussed. “Either to join the government after the prime minister passes the floor test or before that is known only after discussion,” he said. “We had given the vote of confidence even before.”
Dahal had left the coalition with NC and Unified Socialist on December 25, 2022 and became Prime Minister (PM) with the support of CPN-UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), RPP, Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), Janamat Party and Nagarik Unmukti. Nepal Post Congress Party (NC), President Sher Bahadur Deuba refused to appoint him Prime Minister first.
But NC surprisingly voted for Dahal’s government during the previous floor test on January 10, sowing the seeds for the collapse of the coalition.
