Prachanda poised to bag PM's post

Maoists enlist UML, MJF’s support, confident of two-third majority • Deuba NC’s nominee Backed by the CPN-UML and Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum (MJF), CPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ today filed nomination for the post of Prime Minister.Senior Nepali Congress leader and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba also filed nomination ... ...the post. A simple majority of the Constituent Assembly will elect a Prime Minister tomorrow.Earlier today, CPN-Maoist, UML and MJF leaders held a crucial meeting in which they reached a seven-point agreement on power-sharing and government’s functioning.According to the agreement, CPN-Maoist would get nine ministries. UML six, MJF four and other fringe parties (CPN-ML, Janamorcha Nepal, CPN-United and Sadbhavana Party) will be given one ministry each.According to the agreement, the three parties will draft a Common Minimum Programme (CMP), code of conduct and modus operandi of the government. They have also reached an understanding on operating the security agencies, including the army and police, on consensus basis.According to the agreement, the CPN-Maoist would make public a commitment paper to create environment of trust among the parties. In order to run the government on consensus basis and mutual trust, a High-level Political Coordination Committee would also be constituted.The three parties have also agreed to immediately implement the seven-point agreement reached among the seven parties on June 27, according to a press release issued at the end of the meeting.Maoist chairman Prachanda told mediapersons that the political confusion prevailing for the past four months would be over with the Prime Minister’s election tomorrow.“The post-election government will command a two-third majority of the Constituent Assembly and it will write a new constitution on time,” an elated Prachanda said after signing the seven-point policy document at UML’s parliamentary party office.He said all the problems faced by the people of all regions would be duly addressed. Prachanda also said the government would also have to face challenges in finding lasting peace, writing new constitution and implementing forward-looking reforms.Talking to the Press, UML general secretary Jhala Nath Khanal said the Prachanda-led government would fulfil the people’s aspirations and accomplish its job of writing a new constitution on time. He hoped that they would run the administration based on CMP and code of conduct. He also appealed to the NC to join the Maoist-led government.MJF coordinator Upendra Yadav said the new government would address concerns of all the communities and the country would move towards strengthening the federal democratic republic.The coalition partners have also decided to set up a new Youth Ministry.After filing his nomination papers, Deuba said his party tried till the last moment to forge a consensus for a national unity government, but to no avail due to Maoists’ obstinacy. “My candidature is to save the fundamentals of democracy,” Deuba said. Party vice president Ram Chandra Poudel proposed his nomination and general secretary Bimalendra Nidhi seconded it.Deuba also said it was because of NC leader Girija Prasad Koirala’s leadership that the peace process had come this far and the nation entered a republican era.• Besides holding the PM’s post, Maoists will be in charge of Defence, Finance, Peace and Reconstruction, Physical Planning and Works, Education and Sports, Land Reforms and Management, Labour and Transport Management, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Youth ministries • Deputy PM will be from CPN-UML, which will also hold Home, Water Resources, Foreign Affairs, Local Development, Tourism and Forest and Soil Conservation portfolios • Ministries of Information and Communications, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Woman, Children and Social Welfare will go to the MJF KATHMANDU: With a new Prime Minister set to be elected on Friday, outgoing PM Girija Prasad Koirala will vacate the official residence at Baluwatar on Saturday, party and Baluwatar sources said. Koirala, who led the April 2006 movement and headed a seven-party government after the uprising, will move to his nephew Dr Shashank Koirala’s residence in Maharajgunj. Baluwatar sources said his personal belongings were being ferried to Maharajgunj.

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