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Kathmandu Tuesday January 02, 2001 Paush 18, 2057.
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Debate on NC no-trust move on Thursday
By Binaj Gurubacharya
KATHMANDU, Jan 1 - Lawmakers of the ruling Nepali Congress(NC) will decide
the fate of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Thursday when they begin discussions
and vote on a proposal of no-confidence brought against him by the rebelling members.
All 113 NC lawmakers in the House of Representatives, the Lower House of
Parliament, have been asked to be present on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. to discuss and vote on
the proposal, according to NC parliamentary party secretary Benup Raj Prasai.
The rebels led by former Prime Minster Sher Bahadur Deuba need at least 57
votes to oust Koirala as the leader of the NC Parliamentary Party(NCPP).
The leader of the NCPP with the majority in the House is automatically
appointed to the post of prime minister.
Though the proposal had signatures of 56 members and the pledge and support
from senior NC leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, at least four of those signatories have
openly withdrawn their support.
Ram Janam Chaudhari and Janak Raj Giri have joined hands with Mahendra Kumar
Raya and Nagendra Kumar Raya and publicly announced their support for Koirala.
The rebels however are claiming they have the pledge from three ministers and
their total support stands at 58. While the Koirala camp is boasting of 61 votes on their
side.
However, the tug of war to woo and lure members on their camp is expected to
continue until Thursday when the debate on the motion will begin.
Khum Bahadur Khadka, who so far has shown support for the Deuba camp today
said that he was not bargaining with Koirala for positions for him and a few other
rebelling members.
"Before the no-confidence motion I had proposed for unity in the party
but after that there has been no proposals from my side," Khadka said without
elaborating.
There had been reports that Khadka had sought the party’s vice
presidentship and cabinet berths for some rebelling members to withdraw support for the
motion during his meeting with the Prime Minister last Saturday.
Meanwhile, a source close to Bhattarai said that the two leaders (Bhattarai
and PM) are slated to meet tomorrow morning at formers’ residence.
This would be the second time in less than a year that NC lawmakers would be
meeting to discuss such a motion.
About nine months back, two such proposals were filed against Bhattarai by
Koirala supporters accusing him of failing to curb corruption and quell the Maoists
problem.
Bhattarai resigned even before the proposal came for voting the second time.
The first one was withdrawn by the rebels themselves after Bhattarai promised to step
down.
Deuba and a retinue of NC lawmakers had filed the proposal last week at the
NC parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar.
Koirala supporters have been accusing that the no-trust move is aimed more at
shoring up the rebel camps’ bargaining position in the party just few days ahead of
the party’s General Convention scheduled to be held at Pokhara later this month.
In August, Koirala had managed to avert a similar no-trust move against him
after he agreed to some of the demands put forth by the rebels.
Khadka, who was then Minister for Water Resources was sacked after he openly
said that one leader should not hold two key positions - Prime Minister and the party
president.
Koirala currently retains both the positions and has clearly stated he would
not let go either of the positions.
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