"I don't want problems within the Nepali Congress to hold the nation and people captive," said PM Girija Prasad Koirala. But the PM does not seem capable of living up to his words, as he himself seems trapped!

The indecisiveness of the Nepali Congress leaders has almost paralysed the administration. The Maoists also seem to be exploiting this situation by increasing their reign of terror in various parts of the country.

There seems to be no dialogue between Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Prime Minister Koirala. Bhattarai has stopped receiving Koirala's phone calls and he did not attend the inauguration of the Midwestern Development Region workshop.

After the sacking of Khum Bahadur Khadka and the presentation of demands to Koirala, both leaders now feel that the atmosphere for a facesaving act has been created by Koirala agreeing to 3 of the 5 demands of Bhattarai:
1. postponing of party congress to be held in Pokhara
2. reshuffling of central working committee
3. cabinet reshuffle

"I have come through the system, through a process and I would like the process and system to remain in the party. Only through this process can leadership be handed to qualified people. This is not possible by fighting. A peaceful process has to be found.''

This shows that Koirala is not willing to give up his position. This means that in the present context, the PM will not bow down to the demands of the Bhattarai camp. But his agreeing to Bhattarai's other demands gives a hint of win-win situation for both the leaders. And this could possibly end the present stalemate in the party.

Since PM Koirala is open to reshuffling the central working committee and the cabinet, it is speculated that it may take place in the near future. However, it is not expected that new faces will be inducted in either the central committee or the cabinet. Sources say that Ram Sharan Mahat, Purna Bahadur Khadka and Bhakta Bahadur Balayar will be added and Tarini Dutt Chataut, Ram Baran Yadav, Ram Krishna Tamrakar and Jaya Prakash Anand will be removed.

Sources also say that Nona Koirala and Lila Koirala, who are not acceptable to the K.P.-Deuba camp, might vacate their posts in the central committee while K.P.-Deuba camp will forward the names of Ram Sharan Mahat, Chiranjivi Wagle, Basu Risal and Yog Prasad Upadhyaya.

Well-wishers of Koirala say that he should not attend the UN meeting before the reshuffle of the committee and the cabinet if he is to create an atmosphere for dialogue among the leaders. They warn that leaving without solving these problems could prove fatal not only for the Nepali Congress but also for his prime ministership.