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No agreement on choice of President, PM: Prachanda

KATHMANDU: Maoist Chairman Prachanda on Friday said candidates from the parties defeated in the Constituent Assembly election would not get the President’s post.

Addressing a victory rally, Mr. Prachanda said: “The parties already defeated in the CA poll are bargaining for the post of the Prime Minister and President. They will not get either of them.”

He said there was no agreement among the parties on these posts.

“The defeated parties are trying to spread rumours that there has been an agreement on the issue of who should become the President,” he added. He, however, said that his party was still ready to move forward collectively.

“We still want to move ahead by building consensus and taking other parties together to draft the new Constitution.”

Mr. Prachanda warned of a “storm of movement” if the parties continued to bargain. “We will not shy away from creating a storm out of the movement if the parties pressed ahead,” he added.

Nepali Congress Vice-President and Minister for Peace and Reconciliation, Ram Chandra Poudel, said there was possibility that the top two posts — President and Prime Minister — would go to one party.

“To say that one party will get the post of the Prime Minister and President is only an indication of totalitarian thinking,” he said.

Similarly, Communist Party of Nepal (UML) General-Secretary Jhala Nath Khanal said it was against the spirit of the interim Constitution and mandate of the CA election to demand that the Prime Minister and President should be from the same party. “No single party has a majority and the people wish that all the parties move together,” he said.

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