Fringe parties turning away from govt

KATHMANDU, July 4: Fringe parties have started growing frustrated with the nearly two-thirds majority coalition government formed by the largest party in Parliament, the Nepali Congress (NC), and the second-largest CPN-UML.

The government led by CPN-UML Chairperson KP Sharma Oli was formed on July 14 last year. Besides the NC and CPN-UML, the Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal (JSP-Nepal), the JSP, Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP), Janamat Party, and Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) were also part of the alliance.

However, within a year of the government's formation, JSP Nepal and NUP have become disgruntled and have decided to withdraw their support from the government. The NUP announced its withdrawal from the government and the ruling alliance on Thursday. The party became upset after its Provincial Assembly Member Rameshwar Chaudhary, who was serving as Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forests, and Environment in the Sudurpaschim province government, was dismissed by Chief Minister Kamal Shah. Following that, the party also declared its exit from the federal government.

Party Chairperson Ranjita Shrestha Chaudhary stated that her party would sit in the opposition from the parliamentary session on 7 July. "We will sit in the opposition starting from the session on July 7," she told Republica, "We will now sit in opposition both at the federal and provincial levels."

She said that Arun Kumar Chaudhary, the party’s lawmaker serving as Minister of State for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation in the federal government, would resign. "The Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is currently abroad. Once he returns, the minister will resign. After that, we will exit the government," she said.

JSP-Nepal has also decided to withdraw its support. The party's central executive committee meeting, held on June 21 and 22, concluded that the government led by Oli had utterly failed, and there was no point in continuing to support it. The meeting had already instructed the party’s parliamentary group to decide on withdrawing support. Party’s publicity department chief Purna Basnet said that a decision would be made soon in line with the instructions.

He said that the party has already withdrawn its support from the government, and only the official decision remains to be made. "The party has already withdrawn its support from the Lumbini province government. Now, the support given to the federal government will also be withdrawn soon," Basnet told Republica. "The support has already been withdrawn—only the formal decision by the parliamentary party is left."

JSP-Nepal has concluded that the government has failed to amend the constitution, ensure good governance, and control corruption-related activities. Therefore, the party argues that there is no justification in continuing to support the government.

Meanwhile, the Janamat Party is also not satisfied with the government. The party is upset with the federal ruling coalition over the budget presented by the Madhesh province government. Although the provincial government is led by Janamat, with party lawmaker Satish Kumar Singh serving as chief minister, the party alleges that the budget was brought without his involvement, essentially bypassing him. The finance minister, Sunil Kumar Yadav from the NC, has been accused of introducing the budget by sidelining Chief Minister Singh.

Following this, it is said that the Janamat Party may even decide to withdraw its support from the ruling coalition. However, party spokesperson Dr. Sharad Singh Yadav said that no such decision has been made yet, but the matter will be further discussed and reviewed. Like JSP-Nepal and Nagarik Unmukti, Janamat Party has not officially announced a withdrawal of support, but it is dissatisfied with the government.