Maoists' 'bottom line': To keep Ministry of Home Affairs anyhow

KATHMANDU, Feb. 1: The CPN Maoist Center has made a "bottom line" that the Ministry of Home Affairs should be kept for the party. The Maoists have reached the bottom line of keeping the Ministry of Home Affairs for themselves after it was suggested to Prime Minister Prachanda in the officials' meeting held on Monday and Tuesday and also the Standing Committee meeting held before that.
Generally, the party leading the government has a tradition of taking over ministries such as home, finance, foreign affairs, and law. But the government led by Prachanda did not get any of these ministries when the power equation was adjusted.
In the meeting between Prime Minister Prachanda and UML President KP Sharma Oli on Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Home Affairs was also discussed. During the discussion, President Oli told Prachanda about his complaint. At that time, Prime Minister Prachanda was of the opinion that it would be easier to work if the Ministry of Home Affairs would be with the party leading the Government to fulfill the objectives and tasks set forth by the current government.
After listening to Prachanda's words, Oli also replied that 'that's true'. Sources say that in the conversation between the two leaders, they agreed that Lamichhane could be given another ministry instead of Home Affairs and that a conclusion could be reached by holding a coalition meeting once.
In the discussion with Oli, President Prachanda also informed Oli about the suggestions and pressures coming to his party. Prachanda himself has publicly stated that the leaders in the Maoist Standing Committee and Office Bearers meeting suggested to Prime Minister Prachanda that he should not give away the Ministry of Home Affairs under any circumstances.
Rabi Lamichhane, who was also the chairman of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party during the formation of the government, was given the responsibility of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister but resigned from the post after getting involved in the citizenship dispute. Since then, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has taken over the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, Lamichhane wants to return to his responsibilities with the Ministry of Home Affairs after reactivating his citizenship from the District Administration Office.
Although Lamichhane's citizenship dispute has been resolved to a certain extent, his passport dispute is still ongoing and he has also lost his position as a Member of the Parliament. Lamichhane wants to continue the responsibilities of the Home along with the Deputy Prime Minister saying that the constitution allows non-MPs to become ministers for 6 months and they will be re-elected through by-elections. Accordingly, he has met several times with Prime Minister Prachanda and the coordinator of the high-level political mechanism, KP Sharma Oli, who is also the President of the UML.