KATHMANDU, Dec 2: The Tarai Madhesh-centered Janamat Party and Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) are ready to join the new coalition government under the leadership of the current ruling coalition.
Janamat Party Chairman CK Raut has agreed to cooperate with the current ruling coalition in the government in a meeting held with Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba in Baluwatar on Thursday. NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi tweeted on Thursday evening that Janmat Party has agreed to join the government of the current ruling coalition. In the tweet, Nidhi wrote, "There has been agreement to cooperate with the coalition and NC at both the federal and provincial levels and to join the government."
Raut and Nidhi had a separate conversation on Thursday afternoon before meeting Prime Minister Deuba. Nidhi went to the Prime Minister's residence Baluwatar with Raut.
The Janmat Party has won one seat in the House of Representatives. It is certain that the Janmat Party will be recognized as a national party. The party has cut the threshold of three percent towards proportional elections in the House of Representatives. It is estimated that there will be five to six MPs from Janamat Party in the House of Representatives with those elected under the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system.
Janamat Party to leave ruling coalition
According to sources, the Janmat Party is ready to participate in the government in Madhesh province in cooperation with the current ruling coalition. In Madhesh provincial assembly, the Janmat Party has won six constituencies. According to Janmat Party sources, it has claimed the Chief Minister position in Madhesh province.
Similarly, another Terai Madhesh-centered LSP is also ready to join the government to cooperate with the current ruling coalition. LSP leaders have said that they are willing to join the government under the leadership of the current ruling coalition.
Before the elections, the LSP participated in the current ruling coalition. LSP entered after Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) broke away from the ruling coalition. “We are in the current ruling coalition. Once again, when this coalition government is formed in the federal government, we will also participate”, LSP leader Sharat Singh Bhandari said. "Before the election, we have already decided to participate in the alliance. Therefore, there is no need to make a decision on this issue again", he said.
LSP's Mahant Thakur, Sarvendra Nath Shukla, Sharat Singh Bhandari and Ram Prakash Chaudhary have won as members of the House of Representatives through direct elections. On the proportional side of the House of Representatives, the limit of the 'threshold' required by LSPA to get three percent of votes will not be cut. Therefore, there will be only four LSP MPs in the House of Representatives. As in the federal government, LSPA will also participate in the provincial government through this alliance. According to LSP sources, Shukla and Bhandari have expressed their desire to join the federal government from LSP.
JSP in dilemma
The Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), which broke away from the current ruling coalition in the run-up to the election, is not clear on what line it will take after the election. According to JSP sources, the leaders have concluded that the party will not benefit from the electoral alliance with UML.
JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav has maintained the meeting and dialogue with UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli even after the election. Sources claimed that the leaders of the Maoist center have tried to bring JSP back to the ruling coalition.
JSP sources said that Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal met Yadav. JSP Spokesperson Manish Suman said JSP will not decide on which side it will stand until the final results are out. He said that the possibility of the party joining the government is equally strong. "Anything is possible now. We may join the government. We may decide to stay in the opposition. Nothing is clear now," he added.
