Kathmandu, August 17
Nepali Congress leader Dr Shashank Koirala has said he is ready to accept Gagan Thapa as the party president if senior leaders are also accommodated in the party structure.
Speaking to journalists outside the contact office of the establishment-opposition faction in Chundevi, Koirala urged Thapa to include senior leaders and other factions rather than excluding them.
“Senior leaders should be included; they should not be left out. Gagan Thapa, you can remain as president. But please accommodate the other colleagues as well,” Koirala said.
Asked specifically whether he was ready to accept Thapa as party president, Koirala replied, “We are ready to accept Gagan Thapa as the president.”
Koirala said he was making efforts to resolve the differences between the two factions and bring the party leadership together. He said he had been working to reduce the distance between former president Sher Bahadur Deuba and Thapa and had held several rounds of talks with Thapa.
According to Koirala, there had also been attempts to draw him into one side of the dispute, but he had refused to go alone.
Koirala also said the ongoing dispute within the party was essentially a struggle over positions and urged both sides to be clear about what they wanted.
“Both sides should be able to say clearly what they want. What else is there to want? It is the position. If they did not want positions, why would there be such a big fight?” he said.
Koirala said he would continue efforts to bridge the differences between the two sides and seek a compromise within the party.
