Dahal plans to hold an all-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss key appointments including president, vice president, speaker and deputy speaker

KATHMANDU, Jan 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that his responsibility has increased after all political parties in parliament including the largest party, Nepali Congress, gave him the vote of confidence.

“When I visited the president [Bidya Devi Bhandari] along with the support of seven political parties, I was not expecting the Nepali Congress to vote for me,” Prime Minister Dahal told a group of editors of various media outlets at his official residence in Baluwatar on Saturday. “My responsibility now has increased after the NC gave me the vote of confidence in parliament.”

“There has been a kind of consensus [in parliament]. This has raised hopes and of course queries among the people. It is not about how we will go about it. We will try our level best to create an environment of consensus on various key state positions including president, vice president, speaker and deputy speaker,” the prime minister said.

Prime Minister Dahal also revealed that there has not been any agreement with any other parties for the posts of president, vice president, speaker, deputy speaker as a part of the power-sharing deal. He, however, pointed out the need to take all parties into confidence given the fact that almost all parties in parliament have given the vote of confidence to him.

Dahal, who was appointed as prime minister with the support of a total of 169 lawmakers, received 268 votes during the vote of confidence on Tuesday. He said that he would have received 273 votes of the total 275 members in parliament if all the lawmakers were present on that day.

The decision of the NC and the CPN (Unified Socialist), which did not sign in the application submitted to President Bidya Devi Bhandari for his appointment as prime minister, to give the vote of confidence in parliament has been widely seen as a major development that could potentially change the country’s political scenario. The remark of Prime Minister Dahal that he would seek to bring all parties into confidence during the election of president, vice president, speaker and deputy speaker substantiates this fact.

Prime Minister Dahal has indicated that he would try to forge consensus with other parties to the election of these positions. Dahal said he already held consultations with UML Chairman K P Oli to organize an all-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss these key appointments.

“What do we do in the new scenario?” said Dahal, referring to the election of the Speaker of House of Representatives (HoR) scheduled for January 19. “Shall we not try to forge consensus among parties that gave the vote of confidence in parliament? We will ask them to move ahead in consensus.”

“We have not made any written commitment to allocate these positions to any political parties. We have an agreement to move ahead after holding discussions in the days ahead,” said Dahal. “I personally feel that this will be easy after an all-party meeting is held. You will also start seeing that.”

Prime Minister Dahal said that he remains fully committed to the Common Minimum Program (CMP) developed by the ruling parties and the commitments he made in parliament before taking the vote of confidence. While stating that he would give priority to good governance and economic development, Prime Minister Dahal also said that he would regularly go to his office in Singha Durbar. “This time around, we are in the midst of various challenges,” he said. “The country is in a difficult position in terms of good governance and financial situation.”

On the occasion, Prime Minister Dahal also said that he will make his first foreign visit to India. He also disclosed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has already initiated preparations to this effect.

 
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