Interim Nepal government should build trust with political parties for upcoming election: NC leader Rijal

Kathmandu [Nepal], November 10 (ANI): Two months after the formation of Nepal's interim government and four months ahead of the general elections, Nepali Congress leader and former minister Minendra Rijal has urged the government to build trust with all political parties to ensure smooth and fair elections.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Rijal said that the interim government led by Prime Minister Sushila Karki must gain the confidence of political parties to successfully conduct the polls.
"First, winning the confidence of the political parties. And for that, the Prime Minister will have to be able to reassure political parties that this is a government of referees. There will be a level playing field as far as the elections are held, no one in the government will have unfair advantage as far as contesting elections are concerned. So everybody who is in the government will be a referee only, will not be contesting the election and political parties, new or old I mean mainstream political parties, or one may call them legacy political parties, and new political parties who have reasons to believe that they represent people of Nepal more so than the old political parties they can contest at the same level playing field, government has to be able to do that. So it's not just a question of heeding to demands of one set of political parties and not to the demands of the other set. She has to be able to win the confidence of political parties of all hues and colors because election has to be really competitive, competitive in the sense that political parties come up with their manifesto," Rijal said.
Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, who appeared in public following the September uprising, also demanded strong security assurances for the upcoming election.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), led by former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who was ousted after the uprising, has been opposing the proposed March election.
The Gen-Z uprising of September 8 and 9, which brought a wave of change in the Himalayan nation, forced Oli's resignation after violent clashes left at least 74 people dead.
Following the unrest, the parliament was dissolved and an interim government was formed to steer the country toward elections.
After five days of deliberation, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki was appointed as interim Prime Minister, tasked with holding elections on March 5, 2026. The government now faces the challenge of leading Nepal through a fragile transition while maintaining political and public trust.
Rijal, who earlier served as Nepal's Defence and Communication Minister, stressed that holding elections is the only way forward for political stability. However, he added that the interim government must act impartially and provide reassurance to all political parties, especially since its cabinet members come from diverse backgrounds.
"I would like to see that the government becomes a little more reassuring to all the political parties that their elections will be held in a free and fair manner. It's for the government to assure the political parties that the decisions it will make will not be based on the whims of the movement only. At times, I see people who are the leaders of the movement trying to dictate the terms and conditions to the government. Government cannot do that, the mood of the movement is one, but at the end of the day, things will have to come back to the constitutional order. We cannot run the country from the streets. There has to be order, and for that to happen, government has to be more reassuring and one of the things I've been saying very clearly right from the outset is, in the current government, there are no representatives of any political party. I'm okay with that, as long as the ones who are in the government will also not form their own party and contest the election. If anybody has that platform in mind, if anybody wants to run for the office tomorrow, if anybody wants to form a political party and contest the election, that can be more leaders of the Gen-Z movement, that can even be members of current Council of Ministers, they have to just get out of the government resign from the government and announce their own political party and prepare for the election," Rijal highlighted.
Further adding, "I would like to see that the government, the prime minister especially, will be able to guarantee that the members of our cabinet are referees who oversee the elections in a free, fair manner. Only then she can assure political parties, can win their confidence. Rest of her work becomes much smoother after that. So I hope see that she comes out openly and tells the people of Nepal, political parties of Nepal, and members of her cabinet that it is the government of referees only, who would make sure that their elections are held and held in a free and fair manner." (ANI)