Nepali Congress general secretary Sharma asks party president Deuba not to become PM again

Kathmandu, Sept 1 (PTI) Nepali Congress general secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma on Sunday asked party president Sher Bahadur Deuba not to become the prime minister again and leave the position for a new generation leader. However, the 78-year-old five-time prime minister rejected the proposal.
     Deuba is known as the prime minister-in-waiting as the CPN-UML chairman and incumbent PM K P Sharma Oli and the Nepali Congress (NC) president had reached a seven-point agreement a couple of months ago while forming a new coalition, under which the two leaders will become the prime minister turn by turn.
     Oli during a public programme recently said that he would resign from the post of the head of the government after one year and 10 months.
     NC general secretary Sharma during the central committee meeting of the party asked Deuba not to become the prime minister for a sixth time and to leave the position for a new face.
     Sharma requested party president Deuba to sacrifice the post of prime minister and leave the position for new generation leaders saying that there are many capable people in the party, according to senior leader of the party and central committee member Arjun Narsingh KC.
     “There are many leaders in the party who are capable, experienced and skilled, who can steer the government,” Sharma was quoted as saying in the meeting.
     He proposed to party president Deuba to choose from among the six leaders of the party, Prakash Man Singh, Arjun Narsingh KC, Bimalendra Nidhi, Purna Bahadur Khadka, Shashanka Koirala and Shekhar Koirala as the prime ministerial candidate of the party.
     However, Deuba rejected the proposal saying, “I will not abandon my claim for the post of the prime minister. Anyone wishing to become the PM should defeat me in the parliamentary party election of the Nepali Congress.”
     In July, Oli, the leader of Nepal’s largest communist party, was appointed Nepal’s Prime Minister for a fourth term to lead a new coalition government.
     Oli, 72, succeeded Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ who lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives.
     President Ram Chandra Paudel appointed Oli, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), as the new Prime Minister.
     Oli became the prime minister with the support of the Nepali Congress, the largest party in Parliament.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)