UML has also proposed to the NC that the two parties should have six ministries each and the rest should be distributed among the other coalition partners.
This means UML is ready to forgo the Defense Ministry, which is currently held by senior party leader Bidhaya Bhandari. The NC had in the past refused to join the Maoist-led government after the Maoists scuttled its demand for Defense. [break]
A senior UML leader said his party has not staked a claim to the other ministries and it was ready to share them through consultations.
An NC leader confirmed the UML´s proposition but said his party is yet to react officially. “We are yet to response to the UML proposal though we have no serious objection to it,” he said.
What seems to be a point of divergence, if any, between the UML and NC so far is the number of ministers that each party wants to send to the cabinet. “We have told the UML that we will send seven ministers, one more than UML, since the prime minister belongs to them,” said the NC leader. He defended the demand, saying the NC is the second largest party in parliament after the Maoists.
NC CWC meets
The NC Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting began at its central office today to take a decision on the party´s participation in the UML-led government.
Some of the NC leaders have argued that the party should not join the government but extend support to it from outside. However, the party establishment has argued that there was no question of not joining, since the present coalition is a joint initiative of the NC and UML.
NC General Secretary Kul Bahadur Gurung, senior leader Khum Bahadur Khadka and Gobinda Raj Joshi, among others, are of the opinion that the party should not join the government. But they didn´t strongly oppose the idea, according to NC Chief Whip Laxman Prasad Ghimire. “They said if the party decides to join the government its representation in the cabinet should also be decided by the CWC,” said Ghimire.
Emerging from the meeting Joshi said: “It would be unacceptable for us if members of the party are sent into government without the approval of the CWC.”
Another general secretary of the party, Bimalendra Nidhi, argued in the CWC that it was the duty of the party to join the government.
The CWC meeting will resume tomorrow morning and the party´s parliamentary party will meet in the afternoon. Both bodies are expected to officially decide to join the government tomorrow.
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