KATHMANDU, Feb 24: Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba has asked Prime Minister K P Oli to either prove the support of the majority of the 275-member parliament in his favor or step down from the post of prime minister.
Addressing a function organized to mark the 99th Birth Anniversary of NC leader Mahendra Narayan Nidhi in the capital on Wednesday, President Deuba said that there are only two alternatives left for Prime Minister Oli after the Supreme Court overturned his decision to dissolve the parliament in December. “I do not think Oli ji would step down. But he has to either prove the majority in his favor or step down. There are no other alternatives other than these two,” he said.
Essential tests
Deuba’s remarks come at a time when Prime Minister Oli has not to step down immediately from the post of prime minister. The prime minister has announced his intention to face the parliament that is due to begin in two weeks' time.
NC President Deuba argued that there is no need to introduce a vote of no-confidence motion if Oli decided to step down voluntarily on moral grounds. Top leaders from both the Oli-led faction and the Dahal-Nepal-led faction of the NCP are visiting Deuba to solicit his support to form a coalition government.
On the occasion, Deuba also defended his remarks that NC would accept any verdict issued by the Supreme Court on the house dissolution case. “I had thought that the Supreme Court would issue a stay order. But since this did not happen I had publicly told that NC would accept both reinstatements of the parliament or a decision to go for a fresh election,” he clarified.
Deuba said that the failure of the NCP to rule the country despite securing nearly two-thirds majority seats in the parliament showed that NC was the only trusted party with experience to govern the country effectively. He also thanked people for increasingly pinning hope with the NC in the aftermath of Prime Minister Oli’s move to dissolve the parliament.
