'Prachanda' revives Nepal's left alliance, deal includes sharing PM post with Oli

Following his stunning attempt to break an alliance with the Nepali Congress, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and his supporters on Tuesday negotiated a power-sharing agreement that includes sharing the premier’s role, restoring the left alliance in the politically precarious nation.

On Monday, three ministers took the oath of office after Prachanda, a former guerilla leader, formed a new coalition with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), the country’s second-largest party, led by former premier KP Sharma Oli.

An eight-point agreement was signed by Prachanda, UML chair Oli, RSP chairwoman Rabi Lamichhane, and Samajbadi Party chief Upendra Yadav during a meeting of the top leaders of the Maoist Center, UML, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party, and the Janata Samajbadi Party.

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“The [new] coalition has been formed among like-minded parties for good governance, development, social justice and prosperity. The government will be led by Maoist Centre chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal,” reads the first point of the agreement.

Prachanda and Oli will share the role of prime minister, the article stated.

According to the article, the four parties have decided to supporting the Maoist Center for the National Assembly chair race, and they will also support a UML candidate for the upper house vice-chair position.

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With the election of Ganesh Timilsina from the UML and his completion of his six-year tenure on Sunday, the seat of chair of the upper house became vacant. The date of the chair election is set for March 12.

The vice-chair is Urmila Aryal, chosen from the Maoist Center. Aryal will have to step down before the Maoist Center submits a candidate for chairman since the constitution forbids members of the same party from holding two offices, the publication stated.

“Ministerial portfolios will be distributed after ascertaining the number of parties joining the government. That will also determine the ministries the ruling parties get,” Santosh Pariyar, RSP chief whip, was quoted as saying by the paper.

The four parties are indifferent about the CPN (Unified Socialist), led by Madhav Kumar Nepal, joining them.

Negotiations to join the government are also underway for the Janamat Party and the Nagarik Unmukti Party.

The Home Ministry has been claimed by both the RSP and the UML, despite a provisional agreement that the Maoist Center will receive the Ministry of Finance.

With the help of the CPN-UML, Prime Minister Prachanda quickly reorganized the cabinet and nominated three ministers without a portfolio, but he preserved 25 ministerial portfolios, including those of Home, Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Finance.

The oath of office was taken by Padam Giri of the CPN-UML, Hit Bahadur Tamang of the CPN (Maoist Center), and Dol Prasad Aryal of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).