The meeting decided to hold a formal cabinet meeting at 8:15 a.m. Sunday and ask Jha in writing to attend the ceremony. “As per the decision, we will dispatch a letter to Jha no later than by 10 a.m., asking him to attend the oath-taking ceremony,” a minister who attended the cabinet meeting told myrepublica.com.
Saturday´s informal meeting that lasted four hours also decided to convene the oath-taking ceremony between 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The meeting decided to ask army officials to arrange the ceremony on the premises of the President´s office and set up tents and make other necessary preparations.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal briefed the ministers about his meeting with VP Jha held early on Saturday. Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Gachchhadar and ministers Bhim Rawal, Prem Bahadur Singh, Minendra Rijal, Prakash Sharan Mahat and Mahendra Raya were present at the informal meeting. Attorney General Bharat Bahadur Karki, lawmaker Radheshyam Adhikari, presidential aide Lalit Basnet, Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire and Secretary Trilochan Uprety were also present. The meeting agreed to urge Jha to respect the apex court´s verdict.
“Jha, however, made a U-turn from the commitment he made in a letter on Friday. He put forward many pre-conditions for taking the oath in Nepali. He even asked for dissolution of the Constituent Assembly and the promulgation of an immediate ordinance to ensure linguistic rights,” a source quoted the prime minister as saying.
The source said that Jha also asked the prime minister to exercise Article 151 of the Interim Constitution with the consent of the 22 parties in the ruling coalition.
“The President may, on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, grant pardons and suspend, commute or remit any sentence passed by any court, special court, military court or by any other judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative authority or body” states Article 151.
Jha also warned the prime minister that he may not take the oath in Nepali if his fresh demands are not addressed.
Jha on Friday, responding to a letter from the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, had informed the government that he would be ready to take his oath of office and secrecy as per the verdict of the Supreme Court if the cabinet formally asks him to do so.
“We did not care much about what Jha brought up with the prime minister at Saturday´s meeting; we rather decided to make necessary preparations as per the letter that Jha submitted to the government Friday,” one minister told myrepublica.com, requesting to remain unnamed.
Jha has also warned the prime minister of the possible ramifications for the near future. Jha opined that people from the Tarai districts may take to the streets if his demands are not addressed, a source quoted the prime minister as saying.
The prime minister´s office had sent a letter to Jha earlier on Thursday as the deadline under the court order expires on Sunday.
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