World News | Nepal's Ruling Alliance Meeting Concludes Without Power-sharing Agreement
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Top leaders of Nepal's ruling coalition met on Tuesday to discuss a power-sharing arrangement but failed to agree on a deal, according to a party official.
Kathmandu, Mar 28 (PTI) Top leaders of Nepal's ruling coalition met on Tuesday to discuss a power-sharing arrangement but failed to agree on a deal, according to a party official.
During the meeting at the official residence of the Prime Minister at Baluwatar, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-Unified Socialist chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal and Nepal Samajwadi Party leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai discussed various issues.
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Matters relating to power sharing, cabinet expansion and common minimum programme of the ruling alliance mainly featured during the meeting, said Ganesh Shah, the secretary of CPN-Maoist Centre.
Loktantrik Samajwadi Party Chair Mahantha Thakur, Janamat Party chief Dr. CK Raut, Nagarik Unmukti Party chairperson Ranjita Shrestha, Rashtriya Janamorcha chairperson Chitra Bahadur KC were also present during the meeting.
"During the meeting, the leaders of the ruling parties agreed on the common programme presented by Prime Minister Prachanda," Shah told PTI.
Though no agreement could be reached regarding the power sharing deal, they have agreed to expand the cabinet at the earliest, according to Shah.
The ruling alliance leaders have decided to meet again on Wednesday morning to finalise the power sharing deal, he added.
The 68-year-old 'Prachanda' has twice secured a vote of confidence in parliament, winning the second floor test within three months, an outcome he said would provide stability to his government.
Power sharing and the distribution of ministerial portfolios have become major bottlenecks among the members of the ruling alliance as the demand for cabinet posts is exceeding the number of ministries available, according to political observers.
Prachanda had assured to complete expansion of the government within four days after the swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed Vice President on March 20.
According to sources, the Nepali Congress has demanded 10 ministries, CPN-Maoist Centre demanded five, including the Prime Minister, CPN-Unified Socialist and Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal three each, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party and Janamat Party two each, and Nepal Samajwadi Party, Aam Janata Party, as well as Nagarik Unmukti Party, has demanded one ministry each.
However, the total number of available ministries is confined to 25.
There are at present only six cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister and one minister of state in the Prachanda-led government, as ministers from CPN-UML, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and Rashtriya Swotantra Party had resigned from the posts following the break up of the seven-party coalition.
Prachanda is overburdened with about 16 ministerial portfolios, including the ministries of Home, Finance, Foreign, Industry and Commerce, Science and Technology, and Agriculture.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)