Nepal PM Prachanda Cancels First Foreign Visit To Qatar Amid Threat To His Govt’s Stability

Nepal Prime Minister Pushp Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has canceled his first foreign visit to Qatar due to some “important political engagements” amid a threat to the stability of his coalition government ahead of the presidential election, reported news agency PTI.

‘Prachanda’ was slated to leave for Doha on March 3 to participate in the Fifth Conference of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) taking place there, his first official foreign trip since assuming office two months ago.

“The Prime Minister’s visit to Qatar to attend the Fifth Conference of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) has been canceled due to his important political engagements at home,” Prachanda’s Media Coordinator Surya Kiran Sharma told the news agency on Monday.

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Earlier on Sunday, the Foreign Ministry had announced that PM Prachanda would visit Qatar as his first foreign trip after assuming the top executive position to attend the LDC meetings.

However, the Prime Minister decided to cancel the visit in view of the presidential election scheduled to take place on March 9, the Prime Minister’s aide confirmed.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal, who was scheduled to fly to Geneva to attend a high-level session of the UN Human Rights Council, was asked just hours before by Prime Minister Prachanda to cancel the visit.

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The development comes as a new ruling coalition minus the CPN-UML is in the making in Kathmandu just ahead of the presidential election on March 9, Nepalese media reported on Monday.

Eight political parties, including the ruling CPN-Maoist led by Prachanda, have decided to extend their support to senior Nepali Congress leader Ramchandra Poudyal for the post of head of the state during the election.

Prachanda, the 68-year-old Maoist leader was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time on December 26 last year after he dramatically walked out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader Oli.