Kathmandu: Former prime minister K P Sharma Oli has alleged that the Nepali Congress led by Sher Bahadur Deuba was making attempts to topple the new government headed by Chairman of CPN (Maoist Center) Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda' even before it could secure a vote of confidence.
Addressing an orientation programme organised for the newly-elected members of the House of Representatives belonging to his party here on Saturday, Chairman of Nepal's ruling party UML alleged that external powers were still working to see if they could change the current ruling dispensation. He, however, did not name any country or group.
He claimed that the Nepali Congress (NC) led by former premier Sher Bahadur Deuba, with the backing of some foreign powers', was making attempts to topple the new government even before it could secure the vote of confidence. Our friends are not entering through the front door. They are trying to come by jumping over the wall to meddle in our internal affairs, which is not possible. Such type of act was not expected from a neighbour, Oli said, without referring to any country.
He said that Nepalis had achieved big success by forming a new government on their own. We are capable of forming the government on our own and I urge them not to intervene in our domestic affairs, he said. Oli's remarks came amidst media reports that the NC has offered the post of Prime Minister to Rajendra Lingden, the president of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, the fifth largest party in the HoR. The NC, however, denied it.
Prachanda was sworn in as the prime minister for the third time on December 26 after he dramatically walked out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader Oli. Prachanda, who needs 138 votes for a clear majority in the House, is likely to seek a vote of confidence on January 10. He has the support of 169 lawmakers from seven parties, including Oli's Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) and the newly-formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). (PTI)
