NC and UML united by fear, not by shared values: Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda

Kathmandu: Nepal's embattled Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Friday sharply criticised the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML for striking an alliance out of fear rather than shared principles and accused them of pushing the nation toward regression.

Addressing the House of Representatives (HoR) before seeking a vote of confidence, Prachanda, 69, voiced concerns about potential regression and autocracy, asserting that the NC and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) had joined forces as good governance began to take root in the country.

Prachanda was forced to take the vote of confidence after the former premier K P Sharma-ld CPN-UML withdrew its support for his government.

"If the NC and the UML were united by common beliefs or goals, I would not be concerned. Instead, you are bound by a fear of good governance," Prachanda said. He questioned whether the public had approved this alliance.

He argued that, in a healthy democracy, the main opposition party should not form the government, accusing the NC and UML of pushing the nation toward regression.

He asked them not to lead the nation to unnecessary conflict in the name of amending the Constitution by violating the agreement and engaging in deception.

Prachanda recalled that the process of making the Constitution in the Constituent Assembly was carried out through extensive deliberations and maximum national consensus.

"As a major leader of all these historical and epoch-making events, I say to my friends, do not lead the nation to an unnecessary conflict in the name of amending the Constitution by violating the agreement and engaging in deception," Prachanda said.

He said that the initiative of national consensus can be taken in the light of day with open information of the people, "If the intention was right, the discussion of national consensus could have been taken in this honourable parliament. The fact that you are in a conspiracy, not in a discussion, is confirmed by the place and time you have agreed upon. There is no fear of that level when working naturally and conscientiously," he said.

This will be the fifth vote of confidence for 69-year-old Prime Minister Prachanda within one and a half years after he assumed the top executive position on December 25, 2022.

He requires at least 138 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives to win the vote of trust. He is likely to lose the vote.

At present, the Nepali Congress has 89 seats in the HoR, while CPN-UML has 78 seats. Their combined strength of 167 is much more than the 138 seats required for a majority in the lower house. Prachanda's Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) has 32 seats.

Defending the decision to form an alliance with the Nepali Congress, Oli on Wednesday stated that the current tendencies to allow private and partisan interests to dominate state affairs and fringe parties with few lawmakers claiming the post of chief minister and their unusual manoeuvrings needed to be defeated by the partnership of the two parties.

Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba has already endorsed Oli as the next prime minister.

The two parties said that they have agreed on the need to amend the Constitution to protect national interests and make Nepal prosperous and the Nepalese people happy.