POKHARA, Feb 12: Prithivi Subba Gurung of CPN-UML has been confirmed to shoulder the role of chief minister of Province 4. Likewise, Netra Nath Adhikari of CPN (Maoist Center) has been proposed for the role of speaker of the provincial parliament. 

UML's meeting on Sunday elected Gurung as the party's parliamentary leader for the province. He was elected unopposed during the meeting of the party's provincial parliament held on Sunday. With this, he has been confirmed to get the post of chief minister of the province. 

Likewise, Maoist Center's meeting on Sunday, which lasted until late in the evening, has proposed Adhikari as the speaker. The possibility of Adhikari getting the position is very high.

As per the power sharing agreement between the two communist parties, it was agreed that UML would take the position of chief minister while Maoist Center gets the role of speaker in Province 4. Both the parties held their meetings separately to propose a candidate for their respective positions.

Gurung, who has been lobbying to get the role of chief minister since the provincial election, is also one of the central-level secretaries of UML. He was elected as the leader of provincial parliament unopposed as another aspirant, Kiran Gurung, who is the party's coordinator of Province 4, did not file his candidacy.

Earlier, preparation for the election was underway as both the aspirants remained adamant and agreement could not be reached even till the last moment. However, Chairman KP Oli pressurized Kiran to back off, paving way for Gurung to get elected unopposed, according to sources.

“The decision was taken through consensus. Besides this, none other decisions have been taken. We are yet to reach some agreements regarding formation of provincial and central governments,” said Gurung.

 
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