Top leaders of the party claimed that only an NC-led government can lead the country out of current political and constitutional crisis through consensus and cooperation among parties. [break]
Addressing the inaugural session of orientation program organized for the party district secretaries, NC President Sushil Koirala said that the NC should get a chance to lead a national consensus government.
He said it was natural for the NC to stake claim for the new government as the past governments led by the Maoists and the UML have already failed to address the problems facing the country.
“We let the UML and the Maoists each to lead the government twice. Now the Nepali Congress should be allowed to shoulder the responsibility,” he said.
Koirala alleged that the current government had failed to promulgate the new constitution, conclude the peace process and conduct election within the stipulated date. He argued that the caretaker Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai should step down on moral grounds.
Koirala warned that since there is no parliament now, the NC would take to the streets if the prime minister did not step down on his own. He also announced to launch fresh protest programs to oust the Bhattarai-led government.
Addressing the function, NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel said that President Ram Baran Yadav was acting as a mute spectator while the current government, unmindful of its caretaker status, plundered the nation.
“Despite having a caretaker status, the Maoists are plundering the state treasury. The president is analyzing the constitution instead of looking for a new alternative by removing the current government,” he said.
Paudel also demanded an investigation into the billions of rupees spent by the Maoists in the name of youth self-employment programs and in the cooperatives run by Maoists cadres.
He criticized the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for failing to take up such issues.
Lambasting the remarks of Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal that the five-point agreement no longer holds relevance, Paudel said that such remarks are part of the strategic moves of the Maoists to prolong their stay in power.
Related story
US wants to see Nepal's democratic institutions, constitutional...
