KATHMANDU: Ruling CPN-UML’s Nepal-Khanal faction has turned skeptical about party Chairman and Prime Minister KP Oli faction’s sincerity to retain party unity after the latter filed a vacate petition against Supreme Court’s interim order to reinstate UML’s Karnali province lawmakers.
According to sources, the Nepal-Khanal faction’s doubt over PM Oli’s eluding proposal for unity has been confirmed as the establishment faction filed vacate petition against the Supreme Court’s order to reinstate four Karnali MPs.
The Supreme Court had issued an interim order to reinstate UML MPs Prakash Jwala, Kurmaraj Shahi, Nanda Bahadur Budha and Amar Bahadur Thapa from Karnali on June 10.
Earlier, the CPN-UML General Convention Organizing Committee, formed by party Chairman Oli, had dismissed four Karnali Province Assembly lawmakers for crossing the floor, and voting in favor of Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi on April 16.
The dismissed lawmakers had filed a petition in the court saying that the 10th general convention organizing committee could not take action against them as it was formed unilaterally by Chairman Oli.
The Supreme Court had delegitimized the General Convention Organizing Committee illegal and issued an interim order for the reinstatement of the dismissed lawmakers.
Senior leaders Jhala Nath Khanal and Madhav Kumar Nepal had also been calling the convention organizing committee illegal. After the Supreme Court’s order, the Nepal-Khanal faction was enthusiastic that the party would return to May 16, 2018 status. Informal discussions between the two sides for party unity were intensified accordingly.
From PM Oli faction, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel, Standing Committee member Subash Nembang, spokesperson Pradip Gyawali and Nepal-Khanal faction’s Ghanshyam Bhusal, Surendra Pandey, Gokarna Bista, Bhim Acharya, Yogesh Bhattarai and others were actively trying to settle disputes for the sake of unity.
The Nepal-Khanal faction has become skeptical of the Oli faction after filing of vacate petition.
“The atmosphere of consensus has deteriorated. They are just talking,” a member representing Nepal-Khanal faction said after UML Oli faction moved to court to file vacate petition, adding, “Chairman Oli faction is dilly-dallying and trying to make us withdraw signatures that were submitted to make Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba the Prime Minister.”
However, PM Oli faction has claimed that the petition has nothing to do with the attempts for retaining party unity.
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