Review Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal, April 21, 2020: The long being brewed internal rift of the ruling head Nepal Communist Party (NCP), has reached in the climax and further distanced the relations with the main opposition, Nepali Congress (NC) after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli ‘unilaterally’ passed two ordinances- one amendments in the provisions in the Political Party Act to make easy to split the parties and another for the provision that Constitutional Council can take decision even without the participation of the main opposition party leader.
Though the second one ordinance related to the Constitutional Council would not have concerned much to the NCP as it was targeted just to sideline the main opposition party to consolidate the power within the ruling head, particularly the Prime Minister, while making appointments of the official bearers in the constitutional bodies, the fist one ordinance has reached the ruling head NCP in the verge to vertical split.
As a Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar on Monday took a decision that any political party can be split by attaining a 40 percent majority in either parliamentary party or the central committee despite objections from some ministers, mostly from the erstwhile CPN (Maoist Center), the long being prevailed tussle among the top leaders, particularly among the chairs duo KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal have come into surface.
With the introducing of new deal, it is widely alleged that the new ordinance was introduced not only to pave the way to separate the formerly UML and the Maoist Center by splitting the NCP but also to ease the process to split other parties for the vested interest of creating political uncertainty in the country. The ordinance has paved way to split the party if the dissenting faction is able to garner 40 percent of the total strength either of the party's Central Committee or the Parliamentary Party Committee.
The dissident leaders of the ruling head NCP, particularly those who had affiliated to the erstwhile Maoist Center, have taken as of a clear sign to split the party. There was a mandatory provision of 40 percent strength in both the party's central committee and parliamentary party committee in the existing provisions in the Political Party Act if any dissenting faction opts to split the party.
It is said that some ministers had raised question marks over the rationality behind introducing such an ordinance at this hour of national crisis caused by the global pandemic of corona virus (COVID-19). Prime Minister Oli, however, used the prerogative right to pass the ordinance stating that he felt the need to introduce such ordinances.
Reliable source close to the office of the Prime Minister and council of Ministers claims that the proposal of the ordinances would have already forwarded to the President's Office, Sital Niwas, before convening the cabinet meeting for promulgation. Referring to the source, Dahal had already cautioned its close confidents that Oli would introduce ordinance to ease process to split the party with the motive to split the party, Haribol Gajurel, a close confident of Dahal, said.
As new political equation was developed in the party after executive Chairperson Dahal become success to take into confidence the formerly UML leaders like former Prime Mister duo Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal including Bam Dev Gautam, Oli had already reached on the conclusion for a stern measures to secure his positions against of the ‘conspiracy hatch against him.’ The new equation has left Oli in minority not only in the secretariat committee of the party but also in the standing committee, central committee and the parliamentary party as well.
There was a widespread rumor that the new political equation was developed by Dahal to secure his position as sole chairman of the party by sharing the posts of Prime Minister, President and Prime Minister after elections to Nepal, Khanal and Gautam respectively. It is claimed that ongoing pandemic of corona virus (COVID-19) had pushed back to bring into implementation the plan.
The differences of the ruling head NCP has surfaced in the midst of a global pandemic, COVID-19, which has almost shuttered the entire world including Nepal. It is likely that new form of political development would occurred like formation of new government in the country even in the midst of the pandemic as most of the leaders of the former Maoist Center have been insisting their leader Dahal to separate party to form government by making alliance with the Nepali Congress.
As the NCP was formed after merging the two parties- CPN UML and the CPN (Maoist Center) on the basis of 60:40 ratios of its leaders in all committees including its central committee respectively, the former Maoist Center can easily garner 40 percent in the Central committee to form a separate party. However, 16 members would short in the federal parliament to reach 40 percent. The NCP has 174 seats in the federal parliament-121 representing the former UML while 53 former Maoist Center.
With the new form of equation developed within the ruling head NCP, Dhala led camp would garner more than 60 percent majorities in both central committee and federal parliament despite the fact that former UML command a significant majorities in both bodies as most of the former UML leaders would stand where Nepal, Khanal and Gautam stand.
