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Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba asserted that the current coalition was the national need. Inaugurating the provincial level assembly of the party cadres organized by the five-party coalition Gandaki Province Committee Pokhara today, PM Deuba clarified that the current coalition meant for protection of constitution, stability and prosperity in the country. “Inclusion of all contributes to national unity. Nation becomes strong because of national unity. It is a system where there is representation of all,” Deuba said, expressing his confidence that the upcoming elections would protect constitution and promote stability and inclusiveness. He viewed that it was necessary for the coalition to secure victory in the upcoming election. The House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections are slated on November 20 this year. Stating that no suspicion should be raised regarding coalition under any pretext, he underscored that there should not be any work by anyone that would stem bitterness in speech and behavior. Furthermore, Deuba revealed that the political parties had to consider entering electoral alliance since there was no possibility for any political party at present to securing a majority. The PM viewed that by keeping up with the coalition would create opportunities for all. He urged all the contenders in the upcoming election to go for the poll regardless of who got the ticket to contest and who did not. He assured that if the current coalition secures victory in the upcoming election, it would create various opportunities. Saying Nepal undergone various changes since 2007 BS and achievements like republic, inclusive democracy have been gained, Prime Minister Deuba shared that inclusive democracy has become the issue of interest and study for other nations. He further said that the Ninth National Games concluded with grand manner in Gandaki Province and it has further exposed the potentialities of the Province. PM Deuba stressed on inevitability of the victory of the alliance for the protection of constitution, political stability and prosperity, adding prosperity and development of the country is the need of hour. Similarly, Chairperson of the CPN (Maoist Centre), Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ said the incumbent government was formed not only for the election. He clarified that the alliance was formed with a broader objective after lots of hard work with a goal of protecting constitution, democracy and nation. The former Prime Minister shared, “The incumbent alliance was not formed only to get power and win election. There is no other goal except stability, development and prosperity in the country.” The alliance would exist until the guarantee of changes in people’s living standard, protection of constitution, end of autocracy, and beginning of era of economic development, he mentioned. Chair Dahal urged leaders and cadres of the parties in the alliance to make candidates from the alliance victorious in the elections which as he said would determine whether the nation, democracy and the Constitution could be prevented from suffering regression. “”Not to vote for a candidate from the alliance is itself a deception to our friends. So I request you all not to hesitate to vote for the alliance candidates.” CPN (Unified Socialist) Chair and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal utilised the forum to make a public call for voting for alliance candidates from the Gandaki Province. Terming the existing alliance of ruling parties is usual and natural, he said this is the major force to safeguard republic. He also accused the opposition alliance of failing to internalize the essence of republic, federalism and democracy. “The coalition government has been successful to ensure justice to the people, establish equality and take the country towards the path of development,” the leader said. Nepali Congress senior leader and a taskforce (five parties’ alliance) coordinator Ramchandra Poudel said parties in the alliance rose above the partisan interests as per the national need and united for common goals of the nation. Stating that the coalition, formed for defending the constitution, stability and prosperity, is opposed to the ‘regressive force’ that is attempting to undermine the constitution and against the nation, he stressed on the need of defeating this regressive force. He claimed that the coalition is not only for going to power but is for the prosperity and development of the nation. Chief Minister of Gandaki province, Krishna Chandra Nepali Pokharel, said the leaders and cadres of the ruling coalition should realise that not all the aspirants will get the ‘ticket’ for candidacy as the number of seats have to be allocated in a proportional basis. Rashtriya Janamorcha Party’s central executive committee chair Rashmi Raj Nepali reiterated that the coalition was the present need no matter the differences among the coalition constituents. He added that the coalition candidates should be made victorious in the election for safeguarding the constitution. Nepali Congress Gandaki Province president Shukra Raj Sharma said the coalition should be made victorious in the election for protecting the political achievements and the nation’s development. CPN (Maoist Centre) Gandaki Province chairperson Gayatri Gurung opined that the province-level party workers’ assembly of the coalition parties will help boost the election-related activities and prospects of the coalition. CPN (Unified Socialist) Gandaki Province Chairperson Keshav Lal Shrestha stressed on the need of managing the rebel candidacies within the coalition. Nepal Samajbadi Party, Gandaki Province chairperson Hem Bahadur Thapa said that this campaign of the coalition should be developed and taken ahead as a campaign to always defeat the autocracy.

At least 31 extremist militants were killed in anti-terror operations by troops in Nigeria's northeast region in the past two weeks, a military official said Thursday, Xinhua reported. Musa Danmadami, the spokesman for the military, told reporters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, that 70 other suspected members of the Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) groups were arrested during the operations involving all the military agencies. Out of the 70 suspects detained, 60 were logistics suppliers conveying grains, ammunition, and fuel, among others, to the militant groups, Danmadami said. Two civilian hostages were freed during the period, the official said, noting a total of 366 militants and their families surrendered in various locations to the troops in that part of the country, according to Xinhua. The surrendered militants and their families are being profiled for further action, he added. The ISWAP has been collaborating with its sister group Boko Haram to establish an Islamist state in northeast Nigeria. The groups have also extended their attacks to other countries in the Lake Chad Basin.

Just a month-and-a-half after taking office, British Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced her resignation as leader of the ruling Conservative Party and said a new party leader and prime minister would be selected next week, Aljazeera reported. Thursday’s development came after her new chancellor of the exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, rolled back virtually all of her economic agenda. Hunt’s move was supposed to be an impetus for growth, but it became Truss’s declaration of political bankruptcy. At the beginning of this month, at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Truss had still attempted to rally the party around her controversial approach of boosting the United Kingdom’s economy. “I have three priorities for the economy: growth, growth, growth,” she said. But what was supposed to be a change from the tumultuous era of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a sense of chaos under Truss unravelled at a pace that is almost unprecedented in British history, Nicholas Allen, professor of politics at Royal Holloway, University of London, told Al Jazeera. “Previous prime ministers’ central policies have unravelled very quickly, for instance – Neville Chamberlain’s leadership during the spring of 1940, Sir Anthony Eden’s Suez adventure, and David Cameron’s campaign to remain in the EU. I can also think of the backlash to Gordon Brown’s decision not to call a general election in the early autumn of 2007,” Allen said. “But no new prime minister’s position has unravelled so early into their premiership or so catastrophically as Truss’s has over the last few weeks.” The 47-year-old, who entered parliament in 2010, found herself in a first cabinet position in 2014 as secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs under former Prime Minister David Cameron. She since served under Theresa May and Johnson in various positions. In 2021, she was handed the top role of foreign secretary. After Johnson’s announcement to step down, she entered the leadership contest and won the race to succeed with 57.4 percent of the members’ vote against Rishi Sunak, who obtained 42.6 percent, according to Aljazeera. She promised radical tax cuts and high spending to curb energy prices, her very own version of supply-side economics. According to her plan, one that her role models former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former US President Ronald Reagan successfully implemented in the 1980s – albeit under very different circumstances – lower taxes, particularly for the wealthy, lead to investments. At the same time, she believed lower taxes benefit lower income brackets via a trickle-down effect, thus generating substantial economic growth, Aljazeera reported.

Mallikarjun Kharge was elected as the new Congress president on Monday after he secured 7,897 out of the 9,385 votes polled. His rival, Shashi Tharoor, however sprung a surprise by securing 1,072 votes, The Hindu reported.