INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:

Bamdev Gautams six-point proposal for maintaining party unity is not a sound solution KATHMANDU, AUGUST 9 Sixty-three lawmakers from the

ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) started a signature campaign today to pressure party leaders not to do anything against the unity of the

party. The lawmakers move comes at a time when the factional feud in the NCP has reached a climax, with the faction led by Co-chair Pushpa

Kamal Dahal and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal asking Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to quit either as the PM or party co-chair

Oli has, however, refused to quit any of the two posts. NCP lawmaker Ram Kumari Jhankri, who is one of the 63 lawmakers to have signed the

memorandum, told THT that they started a signature campaign to bridge the rift between the two factions. All the lawmakers that signed today

may be close to different leaders, but we believe that all the differences related to party ideology and organisation should be resolved as

per the rules and accepted practices, added Jhankri. Party Vice-chair Bamdev Gautams six-point proposal for maintaining party unity is not a

sound solution

His solution is like surgically removing a cancerous cell from the body, she added. Gautam had recently floated a proposal stating that Oli

should be allowed to continue as the PM till the next general election and party co-chair till the partys next General Convention. He had

also proposed to give executive chairpersons powers to Dahal. Jhankri said their effort was to muster the support of 50 per cent lawmakers

apart from those who were in the Cabinet and NCPs Standing Committee. She said some lawmakers could not put in their signatures today as

they were out of the capital

She added that their efforts were aimed at dissuading leaders, who had already registered a new party at the Election Commission, from

effecting a split in the party. Recently, some Standing Committee members had claimed that a new CPN-UML party was registered at the

Election Commission at the behest of Oli. The NCP has not been able to resume its Standing Committee meeting due to Olis reluctance to

attend it

Oli had unilaterally postponed the Standing Committee meeting on July 28. Although the second-rung leaders of Oli and Dahal factions have

been holding talks to attempt reconciliation between the top leaders, they have had very little success till now. Party Spokesperson Narayan

Kaji Shrestha said stalemate in the party continued even today. A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 10, 2020, of The

Himalayan Times. The post MPs in bid to keep Nepal Communist Party unity intact appeared first on The Himalayan Times.