Kathmandu, Nepal, September 1, 2020: Though a secretariat meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is scheduled for coming Thursday to settle the months long wrangling, there will be a tough time to the party leadership to settle the internal rift by dividing the posts among the rival factions.
New form of obscurity has emerged in the party leadership, particularly the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to settle the internal row by dividing the ministerial posts among the leaders of the dissident factions after party’s vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam made public his intention to join in the National Assembly (NA) member.
Gautam has made his intention public to join in the NA at the time when Prime Minister Oli was willing to continue Yuba Raj Khatiwada as Finance Minister by appointing him as NA member. He has to be appointed as NA member to continue as the finance minister because constitution has a provision that one who is not a Member of Parliament can become a minister only for six months.
A Secretariat meeting of the party held on February 26 had recommended Gautam as a member to the National Assembly. However, this decision has not yet been implemented, due to the widening differences among the leadership of the party on ranges of issues including the division of posts.
It is said that Gautam had made his views public after knowing Prime Minister Oli was preparing to give continuity to Khatiwada as finance minister by appointing him as the National Assembly member. Rival factions of the party have long been standing against of the idea to appoint Khatiwada as the finance minister.
Though Gautam had lost the parliamentarian elections held in 2017, he had repeatedly been exerting pressure to the party leadership to make ground to elect him as the Prime Minister. There was a speculation that party would reelect him by vacating any constituency or through the by elections to fulfill his desire to be elected as the Prime Minister.
As any possibility to be elected as member of the lower house of the federal parliament averted, which is mandatory to be elected as the Prime Minister, he has renewed his interests to be included in the cabinet as the Senior deputy Prime Minister with ministerial portfolio by appointing as the National Assembly member. Gautam’s possible evolution in the cabinet as Senior Deputy Prime Minister is taken meaningfully within the party.
