KATHMANDU: No sooner had the disgruntled faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) decided to go ahead with the scheduled Secretariat meeting on Wednesday, another faction led by Prime Minister KP Oli convened a meeting to chart its strategy in an effort to postpone the meeting.
PM Oli said he was ready to convene the meeting of the Secretariat as per the demand of the disgruntled group. “My idea is to hold the meeting on the basis of consensus,” a leader close to PM Oli conceded.
The source quoted the Prime Minister as saying further, “I am not against the idea of holding the meeting. I want it to be held on the basis of understanding in a conducive environment.”
The meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar attended by leaders close to PM Oli, including Chief Minister of Gandaki Province Prithvi Subba Gurung also proposed the disgruntled faction to postpone the meeting for now.
NCP Secretariat member Ishwor Pokhrel, party General Secretary Bishnu Paudel, deputy leader of parliamentary party Subash Chandra Nemwang, and Standing Committee member Pradeep Gyawali also attended the meeting.
Sources also claimed that Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has also decided to take part in Wednesday’s Secretariat meeting.
Speaking in the meeting, Nemwang emphasized on forging a consensus to avert any unfortunate circumstances in the party. “It is high time that we forged consensus,” Nemwang said.
It may be noted that the disgruntled faction in the ruling NCP led by party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” and Senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal has remained adamant to their stance of convening a meeting of the Secretariat meeting scheduled for tomorrow.
The faction said the meeting will go ahead as planned, and will not be deferred under any circumstances.
According to NCP Senior leader Jhala Nath Khanal, the meeting would not be postponed even if other members of the Secretariat from the Prime Minister KP Oli faction did not turn up.
Likewise, party Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said the meeting will continue even without the participation of the PM Oli’s faction.
Meanwhile, the PM Oli faction has been insisting that the meeting will not take place until and unless Prachanda’s political report submitted at the meeting of the Secretariat last week is withdrawn.
The PM Oli-led faction is endeavoring to defer Wednesday’s Secretariat meeting.
Meanwhile, NCP General Secretary Bishnu Paudel on Tuesday morning met Prachanda and discussed narrowing down the differences between PM Oli and Prachanda.
It has been learned that Paudel had suggested Dahal postpone tomorrow’s meeting.
The dispute between PM Oli and Prachanda has reached a new height of late accusations on one another of inviting crisis in the party.
It should be noted that Prachanda had in Friday’s Secretariat meeting unilaterally presented a political report.
Friday’s meeting ended after setting an agenda for Wednesday’s Secretariat meeting.
Dahal, in his report, alleged PM Oli of being self-centric and a total failure in running the government as well as the party.
Meanwhile, earlier, PM Oli in a letter has come down heavily on Prachanda for promoting factionalism in the party.
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