INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, AUGUST 6
Co-chair of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahals attempt to convince Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli,
who also co-chairs the party, to attend the Standing Committee meeting has not succeeded even after holding multiple rounds of meetings with
Oli in the past one week.
Dahals frustration was reflected yesterday when he interacted with a group of journalists along with other senior
leaders of the party mdash; Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal and Narayan Kaji Shrestha
Dahal said the tussle with Oli was not for party positions but for upholding the rule of law within the party.
Oli, who had been asked by
majority members of the Standing Committee, including Dahal and Nepal, to quit either the PM or party co-chairs post, had unilaterally
postponed the Standing Committee meeting on July 28, incurring the wrath of the rival faction led by Dahal and Nepal
The rival faction held a meeting of the Standing Committee in the absence of Oli and his supporters the same day and termed Olis decision to
postpone the meeting unfair and against party rules and norms.
The Oli faction, however, refused to recognise the Dahal factions meeting as
official Standing Committee meeting.
Asked how long the Standing Committee members would wait for Oli to call the Standing Committee meeting
again, NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said they would wait for a few days
The PM has fallen in minority in the Standing Committee and Central Committee and he has been avoiding the Standing Committee meeting.
A
Standing Committee member told THT that the current feud between Oli and the rival faction was a by-product of Olis defiance of party rules
At present, we want to establish that everybody abides by party decisions, but in the long run we also want to pursue the goals of socialism
for which we need to chart out a course, the Standing Committee member said, adding, It is a question of whether we are truly committed to
Marxism or we are just treating Marxism as a trademark.
Another Standing Committee member Yubaraj Gyawali, who is close to Nepal, said the
PM would eventually have to attend the Standing Committee meeting.
Dahal has been holding talks with the PM to convince him that he should
attend the Standing Committee meeting, but the PM has been saying that there is no need to hold Standing Committee meeting and agreement
between him and Dahal would be enough to resolve the deadlock in the party, Gyawali said.
He said the two co-chairpersons could agree on
certain issues, but their consent would just be treated as a proposal and the party body would take a final call on all the agenda that the
Standing Committee has been discussing for the past few weeks.
He said Standing Committee members of the party were experienced leaders with
some associated with the party for up to 50 years
They know what issues they would tackle and how
We as Standing Committee members are analysing where we should have liberal approach and where we need to be rigid, Gyawali said
He added that the current fight within the party was not for party or government position but for upholding the rule of law and
principles.
A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 7, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.
The post Ruling Nepal Communist Partys
Standing Committee in limbo appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
