Maoist Chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal held separate meetings with NC president Girija Prasad Koirala and UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal on Tuesday morning to solicit support for his bid to sack the army chief, General Rookmangud Katawal.
But NC president Koirala strongly opposed Prime Minister Dahal´s proposal, and the UML chairman offered a proposal to sack all controversial figures, including Katawal, second in command in the NA Kul Bahadur Khadka and Defense Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa.
In both the meetings, Dahal said that he would move ahead with his bid to sack the army chief.
Maoist senior leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha echoed his party chairman´s tone, saying, “We are clear in our decision. We will sack Katawal, no matter how difficult it is.”He said that the Maoists could not continue in government if army chief Katawal was not sacked.
But he didn´t dismiss the meetings outright. “The Maoists will continue its consultation meetings with the NC and the UML until the last minute,” said Shrestha.
Following the meeting with Prime Minister Dahal, UML Chairman Khanal held a separate meeting with NC leaders at his parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar on Tuesday afternoon. During the meeting, UML Chairman Khanal proposed the removing of General Katawal and the second-in-command Khadga, to pave the way for the third candidate Chhatraman Gurung. However, the NC opposed the UML´s proposal and said that the current army chief should continue serving until his natural retirement, according to our correspondent Yuvraj Acharya.
After the meeting, UML General Secretary Iswor Pokharel said, “In order to solve the current crisis, we put forward the decision reached by our Standing Committee to remove all controversial figures. But the NC wants to tamper with the army.”
NC Vice President Ram Chandra Poudel said that the meeting failed to reach a conclusion. “The army should not be dragged into politics,” he said.
Since both the parties failed to form a common position, the parties have decided to hold a trilateral meeting among the NC, the UML and the Maoists on Wednesday morning.
UML leaders Iswor Pokharel, Surendra Pande and Jhala Nath Khanal, and NC leaders Poudel, Dr Prakash Saran Mahat and Krishna Sitaula represented their parties during the meeting.
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