KATHMANDU, Jan 11: CPN-UML Chairman K P Oli, who is seen as the prime minister in waiting, has expressed dissatisfaction with the Nepali Congress for dilly-dallying in handing over the government leadership, saying that it was just to prolong its stay in power.
Talking to journalists at Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday while departing for Bangkok for regular health checkup, Oli accused the government of bringing up multiple issues to delay the leadership handover.
In a dig at the delay in formation of the new government in line with the fresh popular mandate, Oli told journalists, “You might recall that parliamentary and provincial assembly elections were held in the country.”
Change of Guard and OBOR
He also claimed that the delay was deliberate. “The government sparked a dispute over the National Assembly election ordinance, and once the ordinance was ready it didn't fix the election date for the upper house. The date has now been fixed a month later,” said Oli.
UML chief Oli also came down heavily against the Election Commission for not yet allocating the parliamentary seats under proportional representation (PR). “I have heard that the EC is the victim of blackmailing,” said Oli without going into details about how it was being blackmailed.
He also criticized a section of the intelligentsia, accusing it of plotting to undermine the people's mandate and new government formation. Stating that the constitution was misinterpreted to prolong the government's days, he said that constitutional difficulties, if any, should be solved in a pragmatic way. He urged the government not to dilly-dally over fixing the provincial capitals and appointing governors for the provinces.
Oli urged the government not to take any decisions that will have long-term impact.
In a separate context, UML Chairman Oli claimed that party unification will be accelerated after his return from Thailand next week. Urging party rank and file not to harbor doubts over party unification with the CPN (Maoist Center), he said that accommodating the leaders is not a major issue for either party. However, he didn't go into details about the unification process.
Stating that some have been wishing to foil the unification and incite conflict between the two left parties, Oli claimed that their wishes will not materialize.
In a satirical vein, Oli also said, “You can ask Govinda KC that what the legal hurdle [to government change] is?” He, however, added that the court should have understood the issues raised by Dr KC.
Oli will be in Bangkok for six days for his regular health checkup. He informed the press that he has to visit the hospital for regular follow-up for the kidney transplant he underwent some years ago in Bangkok. He has no major health problems right now, he added.
