Officials at the prime minister´s office claimed that Bhattarai is for leaving the office only after creating an environment that would ensure polls in the coming spring.[break]
But leaders from Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML described the latest statements from the prime minister as yet another tactic to prolong his stay in power.
"I suggest Prime Minister Bhattarai not to hang on for extra couple of weeks on one or the other pretext that would not only hurt the country but would also damage the prime minister´s reputation," NC leader Minendra Rijal, who is involved in interparty negotiations, told Republica.
CPN-UML leader Bhim Rawal described the ruling leaders´ statements as propaganda spread in a bid to divert public resentment against the prime minister.
"The prime minister seems to have sensed public anger in the recent days. Therefore it is an attempt to confuse the people by creating an impression that he does not intend to cling on to power," Rawal told Republica.
Prime minister´s personal secretary Ganga Shrestha argued that the prime minister is sincerely negotiating with leaders from other political parties to ensure that the next Constituent Assembly (CA) will start works based on the works done by the dissolved CA. "The prime minister wants a political deal to institutionalize the works done by the dissolved CA before he leaves the office," said Shrestha.
Some officials at Baluwatar claimed that Bhattarai has already held informal talks within and outside his party and some key leaders have shown positive response to his proposal.
"Our party chairman [Pushpa Kamal Dahal] and some leaders from other parties are positive about the prime minister´s proposal that he would leave the office by ensuring election in April -May," said the official.
Both Rijal and Rawal informed that the prime minister has so far not floated any proposal in the interparty negotiations. "There has been no progress at all toward thawing the deepening mistrust between the ruling and opposition parties, let alone making any headway as of today [Friday]," said Rijal.
Also Rawal claimed that the prime minister has not even come up with any concrete proposal before the opposition parties.
While the prime minister´s aides claimed that Bhattarai wants to leave the office only after ensuring that the election will be held in the coming spring and other parties wouldn´t derail the political course, leaders from opposition parties maintained that they can´t allow the current government to take any decision in this regard.
"We can´t allow the present government to bring any ordinance to amend election-related laws and constitutional provisions because Bhattarai has lost credibility and the trust of other political parties," said Rawal.
Related story
SAAYAD 2 fails to impress
