Kathmandu, August 30
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s effort to make three major parties — the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Centre — reach an understanding on local level restructuring has come a cropper, at least for now.
While the Nepali Congress has reiterated its stance on conducting local elections on the basis of existing local governing structures, the main opposition CPN-UML has defended 656 local levels that Local Level Restructuring Commission has proposed.
Major parties rejected the proposal on creation of a local level comprising 565 bodies at the three-party meeting that PM Prachanda had convened on Tuesday
All in all, the major parties turned down the commission’s proposal on the creation of a local level comprising 565 bodies at the three-party meeting that PM Prachanda had convened at his official residence in Baluwatar on Tuesday morning. This difference is likely to affect preparations for local elections with the extended tenure of the commission’s technical committee expiring on Wednesday.
With NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML President KP Oli on foreign visits, second-rung leaders of the two parties had attended Tuesday’s meeting. The participants included Bam Dev Gautam from the UML and senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel from the Nepali Congress.
Before embarking on a visit to India, PM Prachanda wants to table election-related Bills in the Parliament. He had called Tuesday’s meeting to make way for the same.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the ruling NC proposed conducting elections after strengthening the districts by turning VDCs or areas into village councils. But the UML rejected the proposal, describing it as a Panchayati proposal.
Like the NC, the CPN-Maoist Centre, which leads the government, was also said to be in favour of turning ilakas (areas), which are currently under district development committees, into village councils.
But at Tuesday’s meeting, Maoist leaders tried to take an approach that is acceptable to both the NC and the UML.
At the meeting, the Maoist party proposed determining the number of local structures on the basis of an understanding, a leader said.
The UML said the commission should be allowed to work independently, pointing that all that parties can do is advise it.
At the meeting, Congress showed it was for strengthening the districts and keeping existing local bodies intact, UML leader Kiran Gurung said.
But Congress leader Ram Sharan Mahat said his party was in favour of increasing the number of local levels.
A participating leader said the meeting focused mainly on local level restructuring and elections.
The UML has been in favour of conducting elections on the basis of then PM KP Oli’s poll plan. The Oli administration had declared that local elections should take place in Mangsir (about three and a half months from now).
At Tuesday’s meeting, PM Prachanda had said the number of local levels should be finalised within Asoj (about one and a half months from now) and conducting local elections within Fagun-Chaitra (about seven and a half months from now).
Congress leader Poudel said at the meeting that the number of village councils should be doubled (commission has proposed 565 such bodies) and the districts should remain intact.
UML leader Gurung said the UML objected to the NC proposal to conduct local elections by mobilising existing local bodies.
