Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ram Chandra Poudel resigned Friday accusing Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala of failing to solve country’s the burning problems.

Deputy Prime Minister Poudel, in today’s second meeting of the House of Representatives, Lower House of Parliament said that he met with Prime Minister Koirala Friday morning and handed over his resignation. His resignation has so far not been accepted.

In his announcement to the House of Representatives, Deputy Prime Minister Poudel said that democracy is in crisis because democratic forces are divided. He further added that if democratic forces including Nepali Congress and leftists, who fought together for the restoration of democracy in 1990, remain united, democracy can be saved.

Poudel then called for a united front of all political forces that believe in multi-party system for the safeguard of democracy. “All democratic forces must be united and work together against those elements who are active to sabotage and defame multi-party democracy”, Poudel added.

He sharply criticized Prime Minister Koirala for failing to take initiatives and leadership for the resolution of national problems. He also accused the Prime Minister of breaching the confidence with opposition parties and said that Koirala was power greedy.

“I had once expressed my desire to quit but Prime Minister himself said that he was also resigning”, said Poudel. “But later I saw greed of power in him, which spoilt the atmosphere of national consensus” he said.

Poudel also expressed his concern over growing factionalism within the Nepali Congress and asked whether the Nepali Congress had the right to play in the future of the people and the nation.

He vehemently condemned Maoist insurgents. He said that force alone may not solve the problem and called for dialogue for the resolution of insurgency.