Review Nepal
After months of wrangling, the leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), particularly the chairs duo KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, managed to avert the possible dissolution of the incumbent government and the vertical split of the party for a time being.
A ‘tactical’ understanding reached between the chairs duo has managed the ongoing internal wrangling by dividing the posts and positions of both government and the party among the rival factions.
The ruling NCP had reached at the verge to vertical split after dissident factions led by Dahal and backed by senior leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal demanded Oli’s resignation from both the posts as party chair and prime minister.
As Oli gained majority strength at the secretariat due to the support of the vice president Bam Dev Gautam and Defense Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, the dissident faction compelled to come into the compromise to resolve the disputes through the secretariat meeting.
As many as 31 out of the 44 Standing Committee members had demanded Oli’s resignations from both the posts as party chair and prime minister. In the ongoing Standing Committee meeting, they had also been insisting for the Central Committee meeting if the Standing Committee failed to compel Oli to resign from both the posts.
The six-member task force was formed comprising two members each from them and Madhav a secretariat meeting was called for Monday to endorse the decision. Chairs duo Oli and Dahal had l on August 13 for the task force under the leadership of General Secretary Bishnu Poudel to suggest ways to resolve the internal rift.
The dissident leaders, who had earlier demanded to continue the standing committee meeting, have agreed for the secretariat meeting to endorse the decisions including the decision to form task force.
With the endorsement of the task force, it is believed that the secretariat meeting will take all the decisions related to the disputes of the party on the basis of the majority. Though the dissident leader duo Madhav Nepal and Jhala Nath Khannal seem skeptical over the deal, they have no alternative to agree on the dramatic deal signed by the chairs duo Oli and Dahal.
The task force is mandated to present a proposal including the names of those to be inducted in the Cabinet. Likewise, Prime Minister Oli has already given a sign to change in chief ministers in some provinces, most probably Bagmati province and Province 5 to include from the dissident sides.
Chairs duo have reached on the understanding to settle the internal differences not only dividing the ministerial posts but sharing the party positions among the rival factions. It would have agreed that Oli will continue as prime minister and Dahal will lead the party as executive chairman until the general convention, a leader said preferring to the anonymity.
