Kathmandu, Jan.- 4: The no-confidence motion registered against Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in the Nepali Congress parliamentary committee failed today after 69 out of the 112 MPs present at the meeting stood by him in an open voting.

However, the 41 MPs led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, who walked out before the voting began have refused to accept the results. Deuba and his supporters had been maintaining all along that the voting process should be through a secret ballot.

The NC Party Spokesman, Narahari Acharya, said with the voting the issue of no-confidence motion has been resolved.

The motion was registered by 56 MPs last Thursday, who said Koirala had failed to fulfil the promises he made when he became Prime Minister in 10 months.

However, Prime Minister Koirala in his reply to the meeting said the accusations made against the government were baseless, exaggerated and prejudiced.

Prime Minister Koirala also said the government has already started works to improve internal security through legal and administrative reforms. He said instead of expecting a magic to resolve the well-planned and organised terrorist activities in a short time, all should concentrate on unity, reducing socio-economic disparities and strengthening the security measures in order to solve the Maoist problem. He also denied the involvement of the government in the lease agreement between RNAC and Lauda Air. The 56 MPs had also blamed the government of being involved in the Lauda Air deal.

Premier Koirala urged all Congressmen to rally behind him in his effort to make the government more effective and efficient.

Earlier this morning, the party’s three leaders – Koirala, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Deuba – had tried to reach an agreement on the motion. Since no compromise could be achieved, the meeting was postponed until three in the afternoon. As there was still no breakthrough, the parliamentary committee had decided to resolve the issue by voting. Bhattarai, who was present in the morning, was absent in the afternoon meeting.

In the voting, two MPs, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat and Rajendra Kharel, did not participate although they were present at the meeting. Mahat said he and Kharel did not vote because they did not want to side with either for or against the motion. Kharel said their neutral stance was for party unity. He, however, said the present confrontation could bring more serious problems within the party.

Leading the walk out, former Prime Minister Deuba said that they boycotted the voting so as ‘not to get involved in the conspiracy to split the party’. P. L. Singh, another MP who had also boycotted, said they had wanted a secret ballot saying that was the only democratic process.

Talking to the press after the meeting, party Spokesman, Acharya said this has started a process in the party. He also said from now on, no-confidence motion against any leader or official of the party will be done through open voting according to Article 19 of the party statute.

He also denied that the motion was not tabled. He said Deuba, as initiator of the motion, spoke about the objective of the motion. Acharya said Deuba and his supporters had walked out only after they did not agree with the procedure for the resolution of the motion. The Spokesman also informed that discussions with the disgruntled MPs, who boycotted the voting, would start immediately.

Meanwhile, talking to The Rising Nepal, Deuba said since it was a battle of principles and that they would continue with their struggle. He also informed that they would be holding a press conference tomorrow to disclose about their future actions.