While some leaders close to party Chairman and Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal said that the UML should not join a majority coalition, pointing out that the prime minister, despite commanding a majority in parliament, has stepped down to pave the way for a consensus government and not for forming another majority government, others close to former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Sharma Oli advocated joining the government.[break]
Of the 15 members participating in the meeting, some including Urmila Aryal, Prakash Jwala, Radha Gyawali, Rajendra Shrestha, Yogesh Bhattarai and Thakur Gaire said the party should join only a consensus coalition, while others including Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Raghuji Panta, Beduram Bhusal and Jagannath Khatiwada were for joining the government -- whether a consensus or a majority one.
"There is no dispute about joining a consensus government. We suggested not to join a majority government," Yogesh Bhattarai told Republica.
He said they also proposed that the UML should give conditional support to an appropriate candidate so that the country won´t remain without a government for long. "But the party can withdraw support from the prime minister if the leader fails to make tangible progress in expediting peace and the constitution within a month of assuming office," said Bhattarai.
However, the other group of leaders argued at the meeting that there was no need to be confused about the party´s future course.
"Our party has already announced it is not to field any candidate and we can´t accept Maoist leadership until that party completely dissociates itself from its arms and army," Bhanubhakta Dhakal told Republica. "So it is clear who will get our support."
He meant that it was the NC candidate who would get UML support. Dhakal said though the central committee has so far not decided whom the party will support in the voting, there was no need to be confused about the UML´s position this time. "We didn´t explicitly say that we will vote for the NC because we thought that party should work to form a consensus government over the remaining two days," he added.
The meeting decided to concentrate all its efforts until Wednesday on forming a consensus government. On Wednesday the extended three-day deadline given by the president for forming a consensus government expires.
The UML meeting decided that a standing committee or politburo meeting may take an appropriate decision or may call the CC if needed to take a new decision in the changed context.
Maoists can´t be trusted: ex-PM Nepal
While presenting a report on the progress made by the UML team in talks with other political parties, former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said the Maoist party is still a force that cannot be trusted.
"The Maoists don´t come to any agreement. If they do agree verbally, they don´t want to enter into a deal in writing. They hesitate to sign a document even after preparing its draft. When they are made to sign it, they don´t implement it," one member quoted Nepal as saying at the meeting, explaining how tough it is to deal with the Maoists. Nepal heads the UML team formed to hold talks with other political parties.
On talks for integrating Maoist combatants, he said the issue of number of Maoist combatants was still a major roadblock in resolving the integration issue.
Integration numbers still contentious
Nepal said at the meeting that though the Maoists during talks had verbally committed themselves to settling for the integration of six to eight thousand combatants, it was difficult to accommodate that number. The parties have informally agreed to form a separate directorate under the national army and that it would consisting of personnel from the Nepal Army (NA), Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force (APF) and Maoist combatants.
"The total strength of the directorate can´t exceed 12,000. Therefore, it is not possible to accommodate even six thousand combatants from the Maoist side alone," Nepal said at the meeting. The parties had earlier reached an understanding to form a directorate comprising 65 percent personnel from government security agencies and 35 percent from among Maoist combatants.
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