Kathmandu, Jan 11:  At a time when he is being criticized for derailing the constitution writing task  in his lust for the Prime Ministerial berth , CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli said on Saturday that becoming PM was not his priority.

However, he didn’t forget to reiterate once again that accomplishing the constitution by the January 22 deadline was his sole priority.

Amid a press conference, Oli made his statement public refuting  that cross-party negotiations are focused on post-constitution power-sharing arrangement rather than bringing the long overdue constitution on time.

Rumours are rife in the political circle that Oli could stake his claim to the PM’s seat after the constitution deadline two weeks later.

“I was not in haste even to leave the jail,” said Oli, adding that he was in no hurry to become the country’s chief executive.

On a separate note, Oli ruled out space for opposition parties or their leaders, or compromise on the positions of his party while preparing the new national charter.

Making it clear that his party would not compromise on any proposal that may harm people’s rights, national interests and geographical integrity, he informed that  his party has  already rejected the Madhes-centric parties’ proposal to divide some Tarai districts with a view to “detaching the Hills from the Tarai”.

In the last few days with rising animosity among some leaders of the major political parties, cross-party negotiations have stalled.  Some Madhes-based parties have refused to sit in cross-party meetings demanding apology from Oli for his “humiliating” remarks that the Madhesi leaders should consider bringing the Indian states of UP and Bihar into their Madhes province on the ground that they are plains.

 Counter arguing on the apology being demanded, the crude spokesman Oli said, “They insulted me by walking out of the meeting while I was speaking. Still, some leaders are speaking in an irresponsible way so they must apologise for their mistake.”

Blaminghe UCPN (Maoist) and Madhesi parties for obstructing the constitution writing process, Oli added that  his party had been approaching the opposition with maximum flexibility to seek consensus on the disputed issues of constitution.