By Our Reporter
A week-long unannounced ceasefire has been witnessed between KP Sharma Oli and Nepal-Dahal camps in the Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
After strong pressure from about a dozen second-generation leaders for not splitting the party from any of the camps, the standing committee meeting scheduled for Friday, 10 July, has been postponed for seven days to find a point of agreement between Prime Minister and party chairman KP Sharma Oli and another chairman Pushpakamal Dahal.
Dahal has demanded the resignation of Oli from the PM and party chairman’s posts, whereas, Oli has denied quitting both the posts. The deadlock between Oli and Dahal is as-it-is, nevertheless, with the hope of finding a meeting point, the ongoing standing committee meeting has been postponed.
According to the NCP secretariat member, the standing committee meeting can be postponed further if the two leaders will not find a meeting point.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, in a television address on Friday, said that he has focused on the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic followed by natural calamity in the country. Along with the crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic, the nation is facing floods and landslides claiming dozens of lives as well as missing dozens of people.
Citing the ongoing political dispute in the ruling party, PM Oli assured that he would make all the possible efforts to promote national unity, to protect federal democracy, to safeguard national dignity, sovereignty, and geographical integrity.
Of late, according to a highly placed source in PM’s residence in Baluatar, PM Oli will not tender resignation from both the posts, however, he may remain as a ceremonial chairman by handing over the authority of the executive chairman to Dahal.
Accordingly, Oli has shown flexibility in rewarding Astalaxmi Shakya as the chief minister of the Bagmati Province and Bhim Acharya as the chief minister of the No. 1 Province. Both are from the Madhav Nepal camp.
Oli has also agreed to run the government by consulting the party secretariat.
Accordingly, Oli has become ready to reshuffle the cabinet by including Surendra Pandey, Bhim Rawal and others recommended by the Nepal and Dahal camp.
Accordingly, Oli has agreed to adjust the Nepal-Dahal camp’s recommendation while assigning new ambassadors and in other political appointments.
Nevertheless, Oli has denied responding to the major demand of the Nepal-Dahal camp for quitting from both the posts – PM and party chairman.
Above a dozen second-generation leaders including Ghanashyam Bhushal, Yogesh Bhattarai, Janardan Sharma, met PM Oli, chairman Dahal and senior leader Madhav Nepal on Friday morning and put pressure on them to find a point of agreement at any cost.
They have warned not to neglect people’s mandate by splitting the party. Also, they have asked to postpone the standing committee meeting unless the leaders will find a point of agreement.
Meanwhile, the Oli camp is organizing nationwide demonstrations against the demand for Oli’s resignation, on the other hand, the Nepal-Dahal camp has started a signature campaign of the MPs of the ruling party and central committee members as well to show Oli in minority. The second-generation leaders have asked the senior leaders to immediately stop such acts which lead the party towards a split. They have warned the leaderships for not doing politics of majority and minority.
Silence before the storm?
The anti-Oli camp in the NCP has not responded Oli’s present offer. The camp is demanding Oli’s resignation from both the posts.
As PM Oli has not moved back from the stance he has taken, his rival group led by Dahal is seeking different options to oust Oli from both the positions.
When the chairmen-duo were unable to end the deadlock, the party standing committee meeting was postponed till 17 July.
Both the sides are trying to bow down each other. As per the schedule, the standing committee meeting should take place on 17 July. Dahal led anti-Oli camp is busy in holding meetings to develop a strategy. The first option is to resume the standing committee meeting and demand Oli’s resignation with the signature of the majority standing committee meeting. The second and legal option will be to call the central committee meeting and demand Oli’s resignation from the central committee.
On the other hand, the Oli camp is trying to destroy the anti-Oli front by throwing different strategies.
The final card that Oli is holding is the split of the party. However, he doesn’t want to take the blame for splitting the party.
The present scenario in the ruling Nepal Communist Party seems to a silence before the storm.
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