“Parties are yet to hold serious talks to endorse the budget, though we are running out of time,” said Nembang talking to journalists on Wednesday. [break]
Though there is an agreement in principle that the caretaker government should not table the budget, there is no possibility of government formation in the near future either.
The finance ministry officials have warned that the country would face a severe financial crisis if the budget is not passed in the next three weeks. According to the ministry, the budget currently available in state coffers is not sufficient even for the essential services until mid-November.
According to sources, Maoists exhibited flexibility on the budget issue and said they were ready to hold talks with the ruling parties to sort out the issues. But the Maoist party has now toughened its stance after the government stated that it would also table its programs and polices along with the budget.
“This is a caretaker government and it doesn´t have any right to table the budget with programs and policies,” said Maoist Spokesperson Dinanath Sharma.
Sources say Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal told Speaker Nembang the other day that the government wants to table programs and policies along with the budget, and that complicated the matter.
“What we need is serious talks. But sadly the government has not even bothered to invite the Maoists for talks,” said a leader close to Speaker Nembang.
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