What is your reaction to the president´s call for a national consensus government within seven days?
We have taken the call as an obvious move since almost all the political parties had long been urging the president to make that move. But the president´s decision to endorse the budget forwarded by the Bhattarai government without consensus was something unusual because the president himself had said repeatedly that he would not accept the budget unless it came through the consensus of all major parties.
Do you see the possibility of forming a national consensus government within the seven-day deadline?
Given the deep mistrust among the major political parties, I don´t see any possibility of such a government coming into existence with the deadline set by the president. Since the president himself is well aware of this fact, we smell a rat in the announcement.
Your party had proposed party general secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa as a probable candidate for the next PM. Will the party move for consensus in favor of Thapa?
We have yet to discuss the issue in the party, but given the recent political developments I think such a possibility is decreasing. Moreover, it is not clear whether the call made by the president is just for the three parties or for all parties, as he has been holding discussions with only three or four parties even on issues that need broader consensus.
Then what would be the solution?
It has been proved several times that only three or four parties can´t solve the dismal problems that the country is facing. So, we have been saying constantly that only an all-party meeting can lead to a lasting political solution. We have proposed a roundtable conference of all major political parties and other important stakeholders representing various social and regional forces.
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