The first formal discussion has been held between Sushila Karki, the head of the government formed on the strength of the Gen-G rebellion, and the leaders of the three main parties of the dissolved House of Representatives. Prime Minister Karki, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and NCP Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal met at Sheetal Niwas on Tuesday under the coordination of President Ram Chandra Poudel, 101 days after the government was formed.

In the meeting, political party leaders drew Prime Minister Karki's attention by stating that the government has the main responsibility to create an environment for the election.

UML Chairman Oli criticized the government for failing to maintain peace and security. He criticized what the government was trying to do, saying that on the one hand, the government was inviting parties to the election and on the other, it was adopting a policy of intimidating party leaders. Stating that the government was trying to ban parties and delimiting himself and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, he said that the government had not prepared an environment for a fair election. 

'The weapons looted from the police are outside. The security situation in the country is complicated, is it possible for political parties and leaders to attend election programs easily?' Quoting Oli's statement, his secretariat said, 'UML is ready to participate in the election.' 

Congress President Deuba had also urged the government to create an environment for peace and security for the election. 'First, the security system had to be good. Leaders, candidates and voters had to be safe,' Deuba said.

NCP Coordinator Dahal also stressed that the government should make reliable arrangements for peace and security and take the old parties into confidence. ‘If the election is not held on the announced date, the political crisis in the country may deepen. That is why we have started preparing for the election,’ he said, ‘If the major parties do not participate in the election, the reactionary forces will cause further crisis in the country. Let the government create an environment for the election, we parties are ready to go to the election.’ 

All three top leaders had objected to the government withdrawing the security personnel deployed for their protection. They said that the government was indifferent to the security of the major leaders of the first, second and third parties in the last election. After the reduction in security personnel, Oli has been moving with a team of ‘National Volunteer Force’ and Dahal has been moving with a team of ‘YCL’. 

After listening to the views of the three major leaders, Prime Minister Karki stated that her main focus is to hold the election on time. ‘We all have to cope with this difficult situation. We must work together to make the election successful,' he said, 'The government is fully committed to holding the election.'

During the meeting, President Poudel had stated that both the government and the political parties have the responsibility to make the election successful and urged them to focus on it. 'The election has been announced to provide a solution to the serious and sensitive situation in the country. Keeping this seriousness in mind, it is the sole responsibility of all of us to make the election successful,' he had said.

The Dahal-led NCP has been in favor of the election from the beginning. Although the Congress has already decided to go for the election, most of its outgoing MPs have filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding the restoration of the House of Representatives. The UML has made the restoration of the House of Representatives a top priority. It has even filed a writ in the Supreme Court for that. However, UML leaders have been saying that they will not run away from the election if there is a fair, fearless and credible environment.

After former Chief Justice Karki became the Prime Minister, the UML has been among the parties that have criticized the government the most. UML Chairman Oli has been commenting that the current government is unconstitutional. UML has approached the Supreme Court with a writ petition against the dissolution of the House of Representatives on Karki's recommendation. UML has said that the legitimacy of the government should be tested by the Supreme Court. 

The government has also prohibited UML Chairman Oli from going outside the valley without permission, and has also banned him from traveling abroad, on the recommendation of the Commission of Inquiry into the Incidents of 23 and 24 Bhadra. Gen-G is pressuring the government to bring the then Prime Minister Oli under the scope of investigation and action for the extreme repression of the 23 Bhadra movement. 

Although there is distrust between Karki and Oli now, the situation was different 8 years ago. When Congress and UML lawmakers filed an impeachment motion against the then Chief Justice Karki in Parliament on 17 Baisakh 2074, UML had opposed it. UML had made a formal decision and pressured the Congress-Maoist government to withdraw it, accusing it of moving the impeachment motion with malicious intent.

The decision made by the UML Standing Committee stated, ‘Condemning the impeachment motion filed against a fearless, efficient and dutiful Chief Justice in an authoritarian and authoritarian style, our party strongly demands the immediate withdrawal of the motion. We believe that the biased and malicious motion is a direct interference in the rule of law and an independent judiciary.’ UML Chairman Oli also expressed that ‘the impeachment was filed with bad intentions because he did not obey the government’s orders, it should be withdrawn immediately.’

After a writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court against the impeachment motion, on 22 Baisakh 2074, the then Judge Cholendra Shumsher Jabra dismissed the impeachment motion saying that it was not ‘in line with the spirit and in accordance with the Constitution’. However, the distance between Sushila Karki, who became Prime Minister after the Gen-G movement, and UML Chairman Oli has increased. After the Gen-G movement led to the ouster of the Oli government, the UML has been acting aggressively towards the government.

The first meeting between the three major parties' leaders Deuba, Oli and Dahal was held on Tuesday after Karki became the Prime Minister. Earlier, only meetings were held between Deuba-Oli and Deuba-Dahal. Prime Minister Karki and NCP coordinator Dahal had a telephone conversation. Oli, who resigned from the post of Prime Minister under pressure from the Gen-G movement, had been commenting on the Karki government as unconstitutional. Before taking the oath as Prime Minister, Karki had also said that she did not want to meet Deuba, Oli and Dahal. 

According to the President's Press Advisor Kiran Pokharel, the government and the major parties have reached an understanding to create an environment for the election. He also informed that it has been decided to hold detailed discussions about the election at the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar. 

The President, along with Prime Minister Karki, Congress President Deuba, UML Chairman Oli and NCP coordinator Dahal, had a conversation for about two and a half hours. Before the summit at Sheetal Niwas, Minister for Communications and Technology Jagdish Kharel and Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anil Kumar Sinha had inspected the central offices of the Congress, UML and NCP. They inspected the central offices of the Congress in Sanepa, UML in Chyasal and NCP in Koteshwor, which were set on fire on 24 Bhadra. This inspection is seen as an attempt by the government to take the parties into confidence.