Ask Prime Minister KP Oli if he is hurt. Perhaps his answer would be “Yes”. Prime Minister Oli, accused of betrayal and deceit of dissolving the House of Representatives (HoR) said he was cuckolded by his own party-men.
The other faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda and his team, including some stalwarts, feels betrayed, too, as they feel were “pushed to the sidelines”.
However, the Prachanda-camp is ready to fight again as it has announced agitation against the government for dissolving the House of Representatives.
How? Prachanda feels he, along with his comrades, will reinstate the HoR dissolved by PM Oli and form a new government. Meaning: Are PM Oli’s days numbered?
Not really, if PM Oli’s degree of confidence of holding the general elections is to be gauged as he has reiterated on an assertion that the dissolution of the HoR was to seek a fresh mandate of the people, and to provide an opportunity to the “disgruntled people” of his party (looking for the PM’s post), and the Nepali Congress to prove their fortuity and test their popularity among the people (voters).
And yes, PM Oli has repeatedly dismissed allegations of a regressive move by dissolving the HoR challenging them to seek people’s fresh mandate and lead the government and the country.
In fact, it seems that he is trying to prove his arrogance raising doubts over what he said “democratic parties’ reluctance” believing in democracy and people’s mandate to go before the people. For him and his camp, there is no looking back.
Along with this, both factions – Prachanda-Nepal and Oli — have accelerated efforts to retain the official party recognition as well as the election symbol with both the groups making strategies to control the Nepal Communist Party.
The Prachanda-Nepal faction and Nepali Congress, meanwhile, have decided to hit the streets against the government as both the parties have labeled the move as undemocratic, unconstitutional, regressive, and arbitrary.
Their demand for reinstating the HoR reminds people of the popular demand of the then NC President Girija Prasad Koirala in 2006.
Along with this, both factions – Prachanda-Nepal and Oli — have accelerated efforts to retain the official party recognition as well as the election symbol with both the groups making strategies to control the Nepal Communist Party.
Both the rival factions have reached the Election Commission in an effort to get recognition for the faction as the legitimate party.
According to Section 44(6) of the Political Parties Act, the faction that gets official recognition will remain as a parent party while the other faction can register a new party, which means that the recognized faction will get the election symbol that it has been using.
Now that the NCP, which came to the power with progressive agendas and promise of “Happy Nepali, Prosperous Nepal”, has failed to give political stability and stand up to the expectations of the people.
Most significantly, this time Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi failed in her attempts to keep the NCP intact to advance China’s geopolitical interests. Sorry, Your Excellency!
Therefore, on December 23, the NCP suffered a vertical split with the warring factions claiming their group to be the authentic NCP.
Now let me go back to 2017 when people voted for the NCP with high hopes of political stability in the country. Nepal’s two most prominent communist parties united to form Nepal Communist Party after coming out victorious general elections with almost a two-thirds majority in parliament.
However, internal wrangling within the party was so intense that it finally collapsed – meaning it witnessed a vertical split.
Now that the NCP, which came to the power with progressive agendas and promise of “Happy Nepali, Prosperous Nepal”, has failed to give political stability and stand up to the expectations of the people.
The question now is whether there is a possibility of this party coming back to power after the general elections in June 2021. Perhaps not! The last question: Who is pushed to the edge — PM Oli, Prachanda (former “The Fierce One”) or the NCP?
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