KATHMANDU: The intra-party wrangling of all shapes have been part and parcel of the ruling Nepal Communist Party’s (NCP) journey.
In fact, the internal squabbling has become much more pervasive with negative implications for institutionalizing the party’s consolidation.
This became evident as party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ spoke from the bottom of his heart that NCP could split if Prime Minister KP Oli did not pay heed to the demand of the disgruntled faction of the party.
To read between the lines of Dahal’s grievances with party Subash Chandra Nemwang, a Standing Committee leader and PM Oli’s confidant, it can be easily understood that Dahal is exasperated with Oli’s approach for carrying out his responsibility.
Prachanda did not rule out party split if the Prime Minister did not maintain flexibility on his stances.
Dahal and Oli are at loggerheads on the issue of power-sharing even if leaders of the Dahal camp disagree to this claim. “In fact, it’s not only about power sharing,” says NCP Standing Committee member Bhim Rawal, who believes that PM Oli has deviated from the party’s ideology.
“The issue is about national interests, coronavirus pandemic, party ideology, and above all upholding the rule of law within the party,” he said.
In fact, despite several efforts, Dahal and his camp have failed to convince PM Oli to convene the meeting of the party’s Standing Committee, something which the latter has been deferring it time and again.
While PM Oli, who is also NCP co-chair, wants the nine-member strong Secretariat to resolve all outstanding issues, Dahal has been insisting on Standing Committee meeting.
Both Dahal and Oli have engaged in several rounds of unproductive talks in the last one month.
If NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha’s views are to be considered, Chairman Dahal is “frustrated” with the recent developments and wrangling within the party.
Rawal, too, concurs with Shrestha saying that PM Oli has failed to uphold the rule of law within the party frustrating the entire party rank and file. “Party positions or power sharing are only superficial,” Rawal said.
Dahal, NCP senior leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal have been demanding that Oli must quit either the PM or party co-chair’s post.
It should be noted that Oli had on July 28 unilaterally postponed the party’s Standing Committee meeting.
However, Dahal continued with the meeting sans PM Oli and his confidants and labelled Oli’s decision to postpone the SC meeting ‘unfortunate’ and ‘against the party rules and norms’.
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