Kathmandu, 10 January: The standing committee of the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPNUML), the second most powerful body after the central working committee, announced Thursday its campaign to oust the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) from the government.

The main opposition held the ruling party responsible for all kind of problems in the country over the last ten years. The standing committee, previously known as the politburo, reached the conclusion that since NC was in government most of the time after the restoration of democracy in 1990, it must take responsibility for all ills and evils afflicting Nepals political, social and economic fronts. In a statement issued after their meeting on Thursday the CPN-UML said: The Nepali Congress needs to be removed from government in order to solve the countrys burning problems.

However, the CPN-UML publicly announced its intention to stay away from internal conflicts in the NC to oust Koirala from the post of PM or the party presidency within the party. Since there would be no substantial difference between the two factions of the Nepali Congress, our party does not want to support any of them, the CPN-UML central secretary announced.

The standing committee also concluded that the Maoist insurgency was the most burning problem of the day and that the issue could not be solved as long as the present government remained in power. CPN-UML has demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on moral grounds, and demanded that he take responsibility for all problems and violent incidents in the country in the past.

The main opposition party has accused the government of failing to maintain law and order and ensure economic development in the country. The official reaction of the main opposition follows the turmoil within the ruling NC party and speculation that both camps of the NC were striking a secret deal with the main opposition party to support their political move.