KATHMANDU, June 1: Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala on Friday asked caretaker Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to first quit the office to create an environment for national consensus.
Koirala´s call came during a meeting between two men at his residence in Maharajgun on Friday morning.
“Do first resign from the post of prime minister then we can then sit for talks to create an environment of national consensus. This is not just the demand of Nepali Congress, but also of many other parties,” a source quoted Koirala as saying.
In response, Bhattarai said he was ready to vacate the post anytime as he was just a caretaker. Koirala then told Bhattarai that there was no ground to believe the Maoists as they had frequently dismissed agreements reached among the parties in the past, said a source close to Koirala. Bhattarai had indirectly asked the NC to join his cabinet to make it a national consnesus government.
Koirala also vented anger against the prime minister for ´unilaterally´ declaring the date of Constituent Assembly (CA) election and creating a political vacuum. “You could have at least saved Legislature-Parliament as there were many options at hand,” Koirala fumed.
Koirala also underscored the need of national consensus to bail the country out of current constitutional crisis. “There is no alternative to consensus and your resignation will help pave way in that direction,” the source quoted Koirala as saying.
On Thursday evening, the prime minister held a meeting with CPN-UML Chairman apparently to improve the souring relationship after he chose to ´unilatarally´ declared a fresh Constituent Assembly (CA) election for November 22.
The prime minister´s overtures for consensus comes in the backdrop of threats of fresh protests against him by various parties.
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