Kathmandu/New Delhi, July 2 (FN Representative) Nepal was gripped by political uncertainty, as the Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli reached a power-sharing deal to replace the coalition government of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.Meanwhile, PM Dahal has decided not to resign from his post but face a vote of confidence in parliament.Barely four months after extending support to Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s leadership of the government, the CPN-UML, the second largest party in Parliament, decided to end its political association with Dahal and join hands with Nepali Congress, the largest party. On Saturday, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML chair KP Oli held a sudden meeting at the latter’s residence, which laid the ground for the potential new political alliance between the two parties.Deuba and Oli reached an understanding during a meeting on Sunday midnight at an undisclosed location in Kathmandu, where they tentatively agreed to form a new government, amend the constitution, and to work out a power-sharing formula, the Kathmandu Post reported. As per the understanding between Congress and UML, Oli will lead a new ‘national consensus’ government for a year and a half. For the remaining term, Deuba will be the prime minister.
A four-member task force has prepared the draft agreement between the two parties, which will detail the power-sharing arrangement, propose amendments to the constitution, review the electoral system including proportional representation, change national assembly arrangements, and discuss the size of provincial assemblies. The Nepali Congress will lead 10 ministries including home, and the UML nine including finance, as per the draft understanding.Likewise, the Congress and the UML will lead three provincial governments each, with the government in Madhesh to be led by a regional party.There has also been a verbal agreement on formation of a high-powered constitution review and suggestions committee under a former chief justice of the Supreme Court. Deuba and Oli had reportedly been in talks over the past one month in order to address some pressing national issues, and have agreed to amend the constitution where needed. They are also said to have reached understandings on foreign policy, economic crisis, and governance, the Post reported. The reason for the rift between Prime Minister Dahal and Oli was over the appointment of the chairman of the Securities Board of Nepal or Sebon. The appointment process was ultimately cancelled on Saturday due to differences between the two leaders. Differences between Oli and Dahal had been steadily building, including over the new Sebon chair, the appointment of ambassadors to eight countries, transitional justice, and the bringing of what Oli termed a ‘Maoist budget’ for the new fiscal year.