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Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that a new power equation had to be formed to bring about change in the speed of the government and for collaboration between the communist forces.

Addressing a gathering of the party's leaders and cadres in Pokhara this morning, Prime Minister Dahal said the Congress has betrayed many times and it was not likely that votes would be 'transferred' from the Congress to our party. "On the one hand the government was not accelerating while on the other there was mistrust towards the coalition, hence a new coalition had to be formed," Dahal said.

On the occasion, the CPN (Maoist Center) chair also shared that a month-long campaign is being organized to strengthen the party. "We are conducting a national awareness campaign covering the Tarai-Madhesh from east to west. The campaign will also connect the mountains, hills and Tarai-Madhesh north-south," he said.

According to the personal secretariat of the Prime Minister, Dahal said that there is a possibility that the Maoists will take over the leadership in Gandaki Province. "We are doing homework for the formation of the government in Gandaki. Once that is over, we will come to a conclusion.”

The Prime Minister also made it clear that the defense and strengthening of the constitution and consolidating the communist movement are the main basis of forming a new coalition in the center.

"When the communist movement is divided, the reactionary forces become stronger in national politics. It would bring a crisis to the governance. That challenge has been overcome. The country's politics is now on the right track," he said.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said he is doing his best to expedite works of the Budhigandaki Hydroelectric Project.

Receiving a memorandum from a delegation comprising people's representatives from the Gorkha and Dhading districts today at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister said, "The matter will be discussed in a meeting of the Council of Ministers scheduled for today itself," pledging to prioritize the implementation of the Project.

The Budhigandaki Project with a capacity of generating 1200 mw of electricity is yet to be implemented in absence of the preparation of its investment model, though it has been decided to implement it through domestic investment.

The delegation comprises chairperson of Gandaki Rural Municipality in Gorkha, Deepak Timilsina; Chairperson of Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality, Ramesh Babu Thapa Magar; Chair of Bhimsen Rural Municipality, Lok Prasad Banjara; Chair of Arughat Rural Municipality, Raju Gurung; Mayor of Palungtar Municipality, Bibash Chintan; Chair of Tripurasundari Rural Municipality in Dhading, Raju Upreti; and Chair of Jwalamukhi Rural Municipality, Yamanath Danai.

During the meeting, the delegation urged the Prime Minister to promptly ensure the economic sources for the Project and its implementation. 

The local representatives apprised the Prime Minister that the absence of the project implementation has caused more problems for the people of the affected areas.

On Thursday, Budhigandaki Hydroelectricity Company Board of Directors presented drafts of two proposed models to implement the project to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation.

According to Company Chief Executive Officer, Jagat Shrestha, the Board of Directors meeting on Thursday endorsed the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) and other two alternative models for the Project.

The Ministry is preparing to take a necessary decision on the proposed draft and send it to the Ministry of Finance seeking an approval. 

The total construction cost of the project (when the interest of the construction period is also added) will be equivalent to Rs 317 billion and 670 million as the first option while it will be equivalent to Rs 313 billion and 930 million as the second alternative. The total construction cost is estimated to be Rs 310 billion and 470 million as the third option.

It is said that out of this cost, the total loan would be equivalent to Rs 254 billion and 270 million.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane submitted a report of the probe commission on gold smuggling to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Friday.

Lamichhane reached Baluwatar this morning to submit the report to Prime Minister Dahal.

Probe commission Chairman Dilliram Acharya had submitted the report to Home Minister Lamichhane on Thursday.

Receiving the report, Home Minister Lamichhane said that stern action will be taken against those found guilty in the gold smuggling case.

The government in September had formed a probe commission to investigate the 60 kg gold smuggled from Hong Kong and the gold brought from Dubai by hiding in the electric cigarette ‘vape’.

The commission investigated the cases for almost five months.

Acharya said that a report of 485 pages has been prepared in 13 chapters.

The commission conducted field inspections of seven different customs checkpoints including Tribhuvan International Airport and Rasuwagadhi.

In the report, the commission has proposed the government to amend the existing laws to curb the gold smuggling and recommended various ways to improve the weaknesses seen in the investigation and prosecution of gold smuggling cases in the past.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has underlined the need of a comprehensive strategy to address complex challenges of climate change, health and social justice.

In his address to an inaugural session of the South and Southeast Asia Regional Conference on Connecting the Dots between Climate Change, Health, and Equity here today, the Prime Minister highlighted the need for a unified and comprehensive approach to addressing these pressing issues.

"While acknowledging the significance of this monumental event, the Government of Nepal sees it as a crucial step forward in our journey towards a future characterized by justice, sustainability, and fairness," he said.

He further added that the challenges posed by climate change are immense, touching every corner of our planet, impacting our societies, health systems, and the natural environment.

"The trumpet call from climate scientists is clear and urgent: we must significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid surpassing the critical threshold of 1.5° Celsius. This is especially vital for nations like ours, with our beautiful yet vulnerable mountainous landscapes and as a Least Developed Country (LDC), where the consequences of climate change are not just abstract statistics but harsh realities,'' he said.

"The scientists have explicitly said that the emission of greenhouse gasses should be significantly reduced to maintain the temperature limit of 1.5 degree Celsius. Not only the harsh reality of climate change, but also its consequences are significant especially for least developed and mountainous countries like ours," he said.

Noting that landslides, floods, wildfires, glacial lake outburst and drought are becoming more frequent and deadlier, PM Dahal said, "Such disasters have impacted the most vulnerable populations. The poor, women, children and indigenous nationalities have been impacted of all."

The Prime Minister, referring to the latest reports, said that one-third of the global natural resources, including in the Himalayan range, have been lost and these loss and damage have not only put at risk the biodiversity but also the livelihood of billions of people living in the coastal areas.

Recalling that he has voiced in the international forums from the COP-28 held in Dubai to the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations on various challenges the least developed nations are facing due to climate change, he called on the developed economies to support the least developed and vulnerable countries by means of the urgently needed resources and technologies.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday secured a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives.

Dahal received 157 votes while 110 lawmakers voted against the motion.

A total of 268 lawmakers were present in today's meeting. A lawmaker stayed neutral.

Prime Minister Dahal sought the vote of confidence in accordance with Article 100 (920) of the Constitution.

Prime Minister Dahal, who is also the chairman of CPN (Maoist Center), received a vote of confidence from the CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Swatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party, CPN (Unified Socialist), Nagarik Unmukti Party and three independent lawmakers.

The Nepali Congress, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party and Janamat Party voted against Dahal.

He received the vote of confidence for the third time today.

Dahal was elected the Prime Minister on 25 December 2022. He had taken the vote of confidence on January 10, 2023.

Out of the 270 lawmakers present in the Parliament, 268 gave a vote of confidence to PM Dahal. At the moment, all the parties, including Nepali Congress had given him a vote of confidence.

During the presidential election, the ruling coalition changed again.

CPN-UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party withdrew their support to the government. Prime Minister Dahal had again taken the vote of confidence on March 20, 2023, after the change of the ruling coalition.

He had secured 172 votes at the HoR.

In the HoR, UML has 78 lawmakers, Maoist Center 32, Rastriya Swatantra Party 21, Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal 12 and Unified Socialist 10.

The prime minister required at least 138 votes to win the trust motion.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called on all sides to stand at one place for resolving the problems facing the nation.

PM Dahal said this while addressing the House of Representatives prior to seeking a vote of confidence today. On the occasion, he stressed on the need of maintaining national unity for achieving the opportunities before the nation.

"I repeat here even amid various allegations that in my capacity as the Prime Minister, I am committed for consensus, collaboration and mutual trust, and not for negation, dishonor and retribution," said the PM, adding, "We all have ownership and share in the present power appropriation. The President is from the Nepali Congress background, the Vice President is from the Janata Samajbadi Party, the Speaker is from the CPN (UML) background, the National Assembly Chair is from the Maoist Centre background and the Deputy Speaker is from the Rastriya Swatantra Party background." 

Stating that he has a decisive role in this 'respectable' representation of all, Prime Minister Dahal said and he takes pride in this.

Parliament is not place for trading personal accusation: PM

PM Dahal said the sovereign parliament is not the proper place for exchange of personal accusation and counter-accusations.

"Although the reconstitution of the government is only a political process, some colleagues of the Nepali Congress made a non-political interpretation of this process and leveled personal slur and attacked me. I did not want to hit back at the allegations, but my principle was and is that this sovereign parliament is not an appropriate place for trading personal accusations and counter-accusations."

Stating that he wanted to put some views from his side in the House thinking that not denying the allegations that are in the parliament's record itself would send the wrong message, PM Dahal reminded that the Nepali Congress had at one time described him as a statesman from the rostrum of the Parliament.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said the country's economic indicators are on a positive trajectory due to the consistent efforts.

Making a statement prior to seeking a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives today, he said he has been continuously working since the beginning for improving the economy and made it clear that most of the economic indicators have improved in the latest situation.

"The balance of payment is in reserve by 297 billion and 720 million in the seven months' period of the current fiscal year. The foreign exchange reserve has increased by 19.9 percent and reached nearly equivalent to Rs 1 trillion and 845 billion," the PM said, adding that the trade deficit has reduced by 1.8 percent.

He further said the inflation has been limited to 5.1 percent in the seven months' period and the loan disbursement has increased by 4.7 percent.

"It is not that the government cannot interpret the existing economic condition as a big achievement, but the expected progress has not been made in the domestic production and employment generation. Similarly, capital expenditure has also not been increased as expected. It is necessary to give extra impetus to the projects of national pride and priority, to increase the capital expenditure and to further improve in public service delivery," the PM pointed out on the occasion.

He made it clear that making the administration mechanism efficient, removing the procedural obstacles and creating an environment conducive for fully harnessing the capacity of the private sector were his first priority.

'We are close to power trade agreement with Bangladesh'

Prime Minister Dahal announced on the occasion that a tri-nation electricity trade agreement would be signed for exporting up to 40 megawatts power from Nepal to Bangladesh. He asserted that Nepal has reached close to electricity trade not only with India but with Bangladesh as well.

"The door for electricity trade is opening towards China as well. This is also not a small achievement, but we need to carry out a great deal of work in electricity infrastructure development to achieve this possibility," the PM observed.

Stating that Nepal has now made its presence in the world forum on the concept of climate justice and equality, he recalled that the visit of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Nepal and Nepal's presentation in the COP-28 held in Dubai, UAE have sent a new message to that connection.

"We have given the message that now Nepal will give leadership to the voice of mountain nations affected by climate crisis," he said, expressing that the list of government's achievement is not short, but these achievements were not adequate to fulfill the country's needs and possibilities.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is seeking a vote of confidence in the meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) scheduled for today.

The federal parliamentary secretariat has already made necessary preparations to this effect. The HoR meeting is scheduled to be held at 11 am today.

The Prime Minister is going to seek the vote of confidence again today after the Nepali Congress withdrew the support extended to the Prime Minister with the change in the ruling coalition on March 4.

Dahal, also the chairperson of the CPN (Maoist Centre), was elected the Prime Minister on 25 December 2022. He had taken the vote of confidence on 10 January 2023.

Out of the 270 lawmakers present in the Parliament, 268 gave a vote of confidence to PM Dahal. At the moment, all the parties, including Nepali Congress had given him a vote of confidence.

During the presidential election, the ruling coalition changed again. CPN-UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party withdrew their support to the government. Prime Minister Dahal had again taken the vote of confidence on 20 March 2023, after the change of the ruling coalition. He had secured 172 votes at the HoR.

After the change of alliance again on 4 March, the then ruling partner Nepali Congress now has reached the opposition. The party has withdrawn the vote of confidence. CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Swatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party and CPN (Unified Socialist) have formed a new alliance. 

Prime Minister Dahal, who has the support of the new alliance, is going to take a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives today. The parties affiliated to the alliance have also issued whip to give a vote of confidence to the Prime Minister.

In the HoR, UML has 78 lawmakers, Maoist Center 32, Rastriya Swatantra Party 21, Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal 12 and Unified Socialist 10.

Chairperson of Nagarik Unmukti Party and parliamentary party leader Ranjita Shrestha has also issued a whip to vote for PM Dahal.

On this basis, the Prime Minister will easily get a vote of confidence.

The Prime Minister needs 138 votes to trust him. The parliamentary secretariat has included PM Dahal's vote of confidence as a possible agenda for today's meeting of the HoR.

When Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ditched the Nepali Congress to form a new coalition with the CPN-UML, he noted that he felt it necessary to deliver what he had promised the country. To ensure good governance and improve the political and economic situation of the country, he said he was compelled to make the move. For the prime minister, the Congress party was hindering his efforts to bring changes that could be felt by the people.      

Leaders close to Dahal say the prime minister brought the UML onboard to reinvigorate his government—although the UML on its part was also working behind the scene to break the Maoist-NC alliance. The UML felt that the Maoist-NC alliance was formed with the express purpose of keeping the UML out of power. So the party was quietly exploring ways to undo the Maoist-NC partnership, which had a strong backing from internal and external powers.  

On the face of it, the UML was focused on its ‘Mission 84’ campaign to strengthen the party’s structure and support base targeting the general elections of 2084 BS (2027). But when Prime Minister Dahal sought UML’s support to form a new coalition, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli agreed without hesitation. This time Oli did not bargain much when it came to power-sharing. While there may have been a gentlemen’s agreement between Oli and Dahal on leading the government on equal terms for the remaining four years, there was no written deal. 

It appears that Oli was more lenient this time, that he was willing to make some sacrifices. The UML did not bargain for powerful ministries and even agreed to support the Maoist candidate for the NA chairpersonship, a major bone of contention between the Maoist and the NC. 

One UML leader says since the party did not demand attractive ministries, such as the foreign affairs, home, and finance, it helped Prime Minister Dahal to expand his Cabinet without much hassle. Oli suggested Prime Minister Dahal and other coalition partner leaders to choose their preferred ministries. 

The UML also did not send any of its senior leaders to join the Dahal-led Cabinet. For instance, senior leader Bishnu Poudel, who had earlier served as a finance minister, refused to join the government.

The uncharacteristic approach taken by Oli while joining the Maoist-led government has raised a debate whether the UML is committed to the coalition. Is it a half-hearted commitment, or is it the UML’s ploy to keep the Dahal government weak? None, says Bishnu Rijal, a UML central committee member. For Chairman Oli and the UML, he says, breaking the Maoist-NC partnership was crucial to bring political stability. Gaining important ministries was never a priority for Chairman Oli and the party, adds Rijal.   

The UML seems comfortable just supporting the Maoist-led coalition government, and allowing Prime Minister Dahal to effectively implement his plans. Dahal has mentioned that with the Nepali Congress, he felt limited and was unable to produce the desired results. The prime minister was mainly dissatisfied with former finance minister from the NC, Prakash Sharan Mahat, for not involving him in key decisions.  

Rijal says Oli believes that Prime Minister Dahal should be allowed to work without any pressure from his coalition partners. 

It is apparent that if Oli becomes prime minister, he expects the same from his coalition partners: a free hand to run the government affairs. When Oli led a powerful communist government in 2018, senior leaders including Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal had criticized him for not consulting with them on the issues related to the government. The infighting eventually led Oli to dissolve the parliament and to the break-up of the erstwhile Nepal Communist Party. 

Oli has provided Prime Minister Dahal free rein to work on his vision of good governance and improved economy. The onus now lies on Dahal to effectively lead the latest coalition. Like in the case of the Nepali Congress, he cannot use the excuse of ‘non-cooperation from coalition partners’ in case this alliance were to break up again.   

The only challenge Prime Minister Dahal may face could be from his other coalition partner, Rastriya Swatantra Party, which leads the Ministry of Home Affairs. A senior UML leader says his party will fully support Dahal’s leadership so long as he works honestly without harboring any ulterior motives to safeguard his position. 

The Dahal government should now expedite the process of finalizing the common minimum program and put serious effort into its execution. If he leads successfully, UML leaders say, the party will also consider building a long-term alliance of communist parties. For now, everything rests on Prime Minister Dahal’s action.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting in Baluwatar on Monday.

UML Chairman Oli had reached Baluwatar to meet Prime Minister Dahal.

During the meeting, they discussed election to the post of National Assembly chair and vote of confidence to be taken by Prime Minister Dahal on March 13.

Narayan Dahal of the CPN (Maoist Center) on behalf of the ruling coalition and Yuvaraj Sharma of the Nepali Congress filed their nominations for the election to the post of upper house chair.

Prime Minister Dahal has already sent a letter to the Federal Parliament Secretariat to make arrangements to seek a vote of confidence on March 13, Speaker’s press advisor Shekhar Adhikari informed.

Prime Minister Dahal is seeking the vote of confidence for the second time.

He sought the vote of confidence for the first time on January 11.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expanded his Cabinet by inducting two ministers on Sunday.

Upendra Yadav and Nawa Kishor Sah of Janata Samajbadi Party have become ministers in the Dahal Cabinet.

Yadav has been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population and Sah as Minister for Forest.

President Ram Chandra Paudel administered the oath of office and secrecy amidst a function at Sheetal Niwas.

With the appointment of two ministers, the current Council of Ministers now has 22 members.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has made it clear that he changed the power equation even by taking risks in order to make the government's works effective.

The PM said so while putting his views on the latest political developments and in reply to the queries of lawmakers in the meeting of the House of Representatives today.

On the occasion, Dahal said he had declared before this in the House that he would not remain in his post if he failed to prove his capability or to bring positive change and raise hope in the country, but he did not get support from some factions in the erstwhile ruling coalition for his commitment.

"I had been telling time and again that I was not satisfied with the government's pace of work. I had two alternatives – either to protect my post by running an average and ad-hoc government or to work for nation building as per my political resolve even by risking the post. I chose the second option," the PM said.

He maintained that although his step might seem reflective of uncertainty and unreliable to some, it was in the interest of the country and the people. The PM added that this would be proven from the government's works and their result in the coming days.

"It is not that as a government we did not achieve notable results in various sectors. However, I wanted speed and dynamism. I was and am not in a state of confining myself in the cage of self-praise for the average results, he said, adding, "Colleagues (in the erstwhile ruling coalition) loved me as a person, but did not do me justice as a Prime Minister highly aspiring for change, good governance and prosperity."

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed the commitment to probe and bring the micro-finance financial institutions that are carrying out works in contravention to the prevailing laws and directives issued by the Nepal Rastra Bank under the purview of action. 

Responding to the queries by lawmakers in the meeting of the House of Representatives today, he said the extra fees stipulated by the micro-finances are being returned to the account holders concerned.

"The directive to return the service charge more than the stipulated amount and deposit that in the account of the borrower is being implemented. A separate desk has been set up at the Micro-finance Institutions Supervision Department to hear and address the complaints," PM Dahal reiterated.

He added that an agreement has been reached by holding talks between the government, industrialists- businessmen and farmers organizations concerned to pay within April 3 the dairy farmers their remaining dues as of January 14, 2024, and to continue the remaining regular payments. 

The PM informed that the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) Executive Committee has already implemented the directive related to the leasing of land at Ramgram of Kapilvastu, which was issued by the House of Representatives, Public Account Committee.

He also stated that the draft of the law for forming a second order regulatory body for the regulation of financial cooperative institutions is in final stages of making.

No-objection Certificate mandatory for traveling to Russia

Meanwhile, the PM said the Russian government has already been informed that recruitment of Nepali citizens in the Russian Army is illegal, and that 'No-objection Certificate' has been made mandatory for those traveling to Russia.

Responding to the lawmakers' questions in the HoR, he made it clear that diplomatic efforts have been stepped up asking Russia not to recruit the Nepali citizens in the Russian Army and to send those already recruited to Nepal.

The Prime Minister also informed the House that talks are on with the officials of the countries concerned in connection with repatriation of the bodies of Nepali citizens recruited in the Russian Army and killed in the conflict, providing compensation to the families of those killed and the injured ones, and bringing home the Nepali citizens held hostage by the Ukrainian Army.

"Lately the Russian government has agreed to provide, through the Consular Service Department, the compensation and insurance amount to the victims' families, depositing the amount in the bank account of the Nepali Embassy. The No-objection Certificate has been made mandatory to those Nepali citizens if they have to travel to Russia. However, it does not apply in the case of those studying in higher education on scholarship and those doing business and professions there," the PM explained.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expanded his Cabinet on Wednesday.

The newly appointed ministers take the oath of office and secrecy amidst a function at Sheetal Niwas as per Article 80 of the Constitution, the President’s Office said.

President Ram Chandra Paudel, Vice-President Ram Sahaya Yadav, Prime Minister Dahal and Speaker Devraj Ghimire among others were present in the swearing in ceremony.

The CPN-UML got eight ministries in the Dahal-led government.

Raghubir Mahaseth has been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Padam Giri as Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Hari Upreti as Minister for Defense, Bhagwati Chaudhary as Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Rajendra Rai as Minister for Drinking Water, Damodar Bhandari as Minister for Commerce and Supplies, Jwala Kumari Sah as Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development and Balram Adhikari as Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation.

Similarly, the CPN (Maoist Center) got six ministries including the Prime Minister.

Narayan Kaji Shrestha has been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs, Barsha Man Pun as Minister for Finance, Rekha Sharma as Minister Communications and Information Technology, Shakti Bahadur Basnet as Minister for Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation and Hit Bahadur Tamang as Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

Likewise, the Rastriya Swatantra Party got the responsibility of four ministries including Home.

President Rabi Lamichhane has been appointed as Minister for Home, Vice-President DP Aryal as Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security, Sumana Shrestha as Minister for Education, Science and Technology and Biraj Bhakta Shrestha as Minister for Youth and Sports.

Bhanu Bhakta Joshi has been appointed as Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration and Dhan Bahadur Buda as Minister for Urban Development from the CPN (Unified Socialist).

The new power equation formed on Monday includes UML, Maoist Center, Rastriya Swatantra Party and Janata Samajbadi Party.

They were also trying to rope in other parties as well.

Padam Giri from UML, Hitman Tamang from Maoist Center and DP Aryal from Rastriya Swatantra Party had taken the oath of office and secrecy as ministers without portfolio on Monday.

Meanwhile, though Janata Samajbadi Party leader Mohammad Istiyak Rai supported the new ruling alliance, he said that it has not been decided whether to join the government or not.

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba was fully confident that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal would hand over the power to him in 2025. So he was treading cautiously to keep the current coalition intact, extra careful not to upset Dahal. 

In Deuba’s own words, he refused to meet the opposition leader, KP Sharma Oli of the CPN-UML, despite the latter’s repeated requests. He even turned down Oli’s premiership offer, because he didn’t want to betray Dahal’s CPN (Maoist Center). But little did Deuba know that Oli’s UML had also been making overtures to Prime Minister Dahal to break the Maoist-NC coalition and form a left alliance. 

While it is true that the relationship between Dahal and Deuba was fraught with disagreements and misunderstandings, Deuba never thought they were serious enough to break the alliance.
According to NC leaders, the current situation resonates with the incident of 2017 when the Maoist party while being in the NC-led government forged an electoral alliance with the UML. Consequently, the NC faced a historic drubbing in the general elections, while the Maoists and UML went on to unify to become the largest communist party that the country had ever seen. The unified communist party, however, split to their old forms following a power tussle between Dahal and Oli.  

Now the two communist parties are together again and the Nepali Congress, which emerged as the largest political party through the 2022 parliamentary elections, has been relegated to the opposition’s role. Deuba’s party has also been stripped of power in the provinces. The NC has been in this same situation before. Soon after the 2022 general elections, the NC had taken a firm stance of forming a government under its leadership. This led the Maoists to switch sides and make an alliance with the UML to form a government. But once again, there was a power tussle between Dahal and Oli, and the Maoist-UML coalition fell through. 

The NC returned to power after agreeing to Dahal’s condition that he should be allowed to lead the government for two years. As per the agreement, Deuba would lead the coalition government for the final two years of the five-year term, and Madhav Kumar Nepal of the CPN (Unified Socialist) would helm the government for one year after the end of Dahal’s term.  

With everything that had occurred between the Maoists and UML, with all the bad blood between Dahal and Oli, there was no reason for Deuba to suspect that something was amiss. How wrong was he! 

In Monday’s office-bearers meeting, Deuba called Dahal a betrayer for secretly aligning with the UML without any solid reason. While Deuba and his supporters have taken it as a major loss to the NC, leaders like Shekhar Koirala and Gagan Thapa are of the view that it will be beneficial to the party in the long-run. 

Koirala said break-up and formation of alliances is a normal affair in politics, even though Prime Minister Dahal abandoned the NC in an abrupt and abnormal manner. 

He added that the NC should be careful about forging such an alliance in the future.

For a long time, Koirala was against the NC-Maoist alliance. The party’s general secretary duo Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma also held contradictory views regarding the alliance with the Maoist party. Even though the Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel was elected the President with the support of the Maoists, Thapa, Sharma, Koirala and other NC leaders were concerned that the alliance with the Maoist party was compromising the party’s ideology and eroding the support base. 

In the recently concluded Mahasamiti meeting of the NC, Thapa and his team took a firm position that the party should make an official stance that it will not forge any electoral alliance in the next general elections. So the party endorsed the proposal to not form a pre-poll alliance while also committing to give continuity to the NC-Maoist coalition until the next elections. 

It was a reason enough for Prime Minister Dahal to sever ties with the NC. Dahal was also unhappy with the performance of the NC ministers. Some leaders say the prime minister was also being pressured by the NC not to investigate high-profile corruption scandals involving politicians and businesspersons.

The NC was allegedly putting pressure on Prime Minister Dahal to remove Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, claiming that Shrestha was targeting NC leaders by opening investigations into past corruption cases. 
The NC is currently discussing their future course of action. So far it is not clear whether the party will remain in opposition and prepare for the 2027 general elections, or start making efforts to dismantle the Maoist-UML coalition all over again. 

Youth leaders of the party are of the view that the party should remain in the opposition and focus on party building, but the decision rests upon Deuba, who holds a major sway in the party. Koirala said the NC should learn a lesson from this episode, but it is really Deuba who should.  

In a dramatic turn of events, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has ditched his key coalition partner, Nepali Congress, to form a new alliance with the main opposition, CPN-UML. According to Maoist leaders, though the breakdown in the alliance seems sudden, there was a series of misunderstandings with the NC that led to the decision.

One of the primary reasons, they say, is the recently held Mahasamiti meeting of the NC where the party’s general secretary, Gagan Kumar Thapa, and scores of other leaders passed a proposal stating that the NC will not forge any pre-poll alliance. It was a clear reference to the potential partnership with the Maoist party, whose political ideology is diametrically opposite with that of the NC. Similarly, a political document presented by NC Vice-president Purna Bahadur Khadka at the Mahasamiti meeting had portrayed the Maoist insurgency in a negative light which miffed PM Dahal. 

One senior Maoist leader said considering the constant friction encountered with the Nepali Congress, Prime Minister Dahal reached the conclusion that the alliance cannot sustain for long and started working to revive the alliance with the UML. Besides the UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party and Janata Samajbadi Party have also agreed to enter the new alliance.     

The senior Maoist leader said that Prime Minister Dahal was in favor of continuing the Maoist-NC coalition as long as the NC was willing to forge an electoral alliance in the next general elections. While NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba seemed somewhat lenient regarding the Maoist’s condition, the NC second-rung leaders were averse to joining forces with the Maoist party ahead of the next elections.

Inside the Maoists too, many leaders were raising their voice for reviving the left alliance. 

NC leader and Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud said while there were some disagreements with the Maoists, including the decision taken by the Mahasamiti meeting and the issue of Cabinet reshuffle, the NC had not anticipated that Prime Minister Dahal would go on to dissolve the coalition.

Another bone of contention between the Maoist party and NC was picking the National Assembly (NA) chairperson candidate. When the elections for 19 NA seats were held in January, the two parties had agreed to field NC’s Krishna Prasad Sitaula as one of their common candidates from Koshi province. The plan was to make Sitaula an NA member and then field him again as the NA chairperson candidate to replace the incumbent Ganesh Prasad Timilsina of the UML, whose term ends this month.    

Sitaula was elected to the NA with the Maoists backing, but the candidates from the Maoist party did not win the election. Dahal’s party later concluded that the NC did not vote for the Maoist candidates. Shortly after the NA election results, Maoist leaders including Barsha Man Pun publicly announced that the party would review its alliance with the NC. The Mahasamiti meeting of the NC further reinforced the Maoist suspicion that the alliance was unfruitful.

In the government, meanwhile, there was a continuous tussle between Prime Minister Dahal and the ministers from the Congress party, particularly Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat. For a long time, Dahal had been complaining that Mahat was bypassing him while taking key decisions. The prime minister was unhappy with Mahat as he failed to make any progress to recover the faltering economy of the country. Prime Minister Dahal wanted to replace Mahat, but Deuba was against it. Dahal was also not pleased with the way the NC was pressing him not to investigate the corruption cases where senior Congress leaders and businessmen were reportedly involved. 

While taking the decision to change the current coalition, Prime Minister Dahal has his own personal reasons. As the government was becoming unpopular for its failure to improve service delivery, tame corruption and bring the failing economy back on track, Dahal wanted to divert people’s attention by shifting the blame on an incompatible alliance. Also, with a new coalition in place, he buys himself some time and the reason to renew his vows of delivering good governance and progress.  

Since the first day in power, Prime Minister Dahal’s top priority was settling the transitional justice process. To this end, he has been continually seeking international support including the United Nations. Most importantly, he needed the support of the main opposition, UML, which was not forthcoming. It was obvious that the UML would support Dahal’s plan to conclude the transitional justice process only if he was willing to sever ties with the Congress.  With the UML’s support, Dahal wants to conclude the transitional justice process according to his own terms, although it is still not an easy task.

As the main opposition, the UML too was continuously working to break the Maoist-NC alliance. Although the UML leaders publicly said that the party was set on the mission of emerging as the majority party through the next general elections, the party had also set its sight on breaking the ruling alliance and coming back to power. Due to the NC-Maoist alliance, the UML was powerless both at the center and provinces.  Initially, the UML had even tried to forge an alliance with the NC and keep the Maoists and CPN (Unified Socialist) out of the equation, but the NC was not ready to entertain the idea. 

It is uncertain how long the latest coalition will last. But Dahal’s tenure is likely to be prolonged. According to leaders, Dahal and Oli will lead the government for an equal period. The two leaders have agreed to take this coalition until the next elections. But given Dahal’s track record, his propensity and history of flip-flopping between the UML and NC, one could argue that there could be more topsy-turvy political events before we reach the election season in 2027.