Issue before the general election

By TNW correspondent

Aspirants for premiership after the general election have begun to plant their wish in the public sphere.

For the opposition party CPN UML, it is none but former Premier Oli. Nepali Congress would like to offer continuity to PM Deuba. Maoist Centre has voiced for a chance for former PM Prachanda.

All those who advocate one or the other of the trio mention one point without fail: since it is the last opportunity for their leader to become PM, it should be taken sympathetically.

Some politicians outside the framework of traditional parties are also claiming to be future PM in their public speeches.

None of the political parties has decided on whether to announce future PM in advance in case of their comfortable win in election. The three leaders mentioned above, however, appear interested in clarifying on who should become future PM prior to general election.

“People should know who would lead them during 2023-2028.” said a senior politician in Kathmandu the other day referring to claims and counter claims for premiership in the then communist party some years ago after the 2017 polls.

Some politicos opine that the parliamentary system in Nepal follows a convention of allowing political parties with majority seats or ability to form government to decide on who should be the PM. Therefore, it is not important to decide on future PM prior to the polls, they argue.

The parties with no prospect for being in a position of forming government also back the idea. They opine “let people choose the party to lead them and the party will choose the leader accordingly.” 

According to a media analyst, the issue of who will be the next PM will this time be one of the dominating issue before the polls.