The two parties failed to reach agreement on portfolio sharing yet again on Tuesday. Senior NC leaders Bimalendra Nidhi and Krishna Prasad Sitaula visited the prime minister´s official residence at Baluwatar to talk to Prime Minister Nepal, K P Sharma Oli and other senior leaders.
The sticking point between the two parties is selection between the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Local Development, according to senior leaders involved in the meeting.
"The NC leaders demanded the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), Local Development (MoLD), Foreign Affairs, Health and Labor and Transport Management," a UML leader present at the meeting, preferring anonymity, told myrepublica.com, adding, "We have no objection on other portfolios. But we requested them to choose between the MoWR or MoLD."
He said they can´t offer both the ministries -- MoWR and MoLD -- because the UML has to placate other coalition partners as well.
The meeting failed to make headway as the NC leaders were not ready to make any compromise on the list, he claimed.
But, an NC leader present at the meeting said they failed once again due to UML´s insistence on its previous stance. "They wanted all the key ministries like Home, Finance, MoWR and Information and Communications," the NC leader said, adding, "We requested them that if they want all those key ministries then we need Water Resources, Local Development, Health, Labor and Transport Management and one more ministry."
But the UML disagreed. "Then how can we make any headway?" the NC leader said.
UML-TMDP talks
Meanwhile, UML leaders talked to Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) top leaders on cabinet expansion. TMDP leaders demanded three ministries while the UML leaders offered them two cabinet and one state ministers, according to UML politburo member Raghuji Pant, the prime minister´s political advisor.
"We will reach agreement in another round of talks," he said.
thira@myrepublica.com
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