Coalition partners meeting today to discuss NA election

KATHMANDU, Jan 3: A meeting of the ruling alliance has been scheduled for Monday morning to discuss the election of the National Assembly (NA).

The meeting, which is likely to be attended by the main leaders of the coalition parties, will be held at the Prime Minister’s Office Resident at Baluwatar, Kathmandu.

According to Gagan Thapa, newly elected general secretary of the Nepali Congress, the meeting was earlier scheduled for Sunday which was later postponed for Monday as the general convention of the CPN (Maoist Center) couldn’t conclude on the scheduled date.

Tenures of as many as 20 NA members are soon to expire. Of these NA members, eight are of CPN-UML, four of Maoist Center, four of CPN (Unified Socialist), three of Nepali Congress and the remaining one was nominated by the President.

Elections for 19 seats in NA are scheduled for 9 AM on January 26 in all seven provinces.

The ruling alliance, Nepali Congress, Maoist Center, CPN (Unified Socialist) and Janata Samajbadi Party, is currently trying to form a coalition for the election, posing a serious challenge for the main opposition party, the CPN-UML.

According to the sources, the ruling Nepali Congress is likely to get eight seats, Maoist Center and CPN (Unified Socialist) to get five seats each and JSP to get one seat.