NCP unity amidst disputes

Kathmandu, 11 September: Although, while looking from outside, there seems harmonious unity between the party chairmen duo KP Sharma Oli and Pushpakamal Dahal in the ruling Nepal Communist Party, from inside, they are still in the fight and trying to create hurdle against each other.
On the other hand, party senior leader Madhav Nepal is in a position of wait and see. In today’s Standing Committee meeting, the Nepal group is said to be maintaining a neutral role and planning to protest against the present practice of enjoying more than one posts by the leaders, which is against the party statute of “one person one post”.
The Madhav Nepal camp’s strategy is not to allow Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to take any decision and making him fail. A source said that although Dahal is seen sided with Oli, the fact is that, he is still with Nepal and taking every decision in consultation with Nepal.
Of late, Oli and Dahal had deferred on party vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam’s nomination to the National Assembly and assigning him as a minister. Oli said that on legal and moral ground, one election defeated person cannot become the minister even if nominated him to the National Assembly. Oli had said that some people may knock the court door against the government decision.
Dahal, however, said that there is no legal obstacle on nominating Gautam to the Upper House and assigning him as the minister.
Along with nomination of Gautam to the National Assembly, questions can be raised on the role of the government and the President as well, say legal experts. The constitutional spirit is that important figures who have not contested any elections shall be nominated by the President.
On the other hand, the anti-Oli camp is saying that Oli still wants to reappoint Yubraj Khatiwada and Gokul Banskota, his confidants to the respective ministries they were assigned earlier. Therefore, Oli is lingering to implement the party Secretariat’s decision of nominating Gautam to the Upper House.
The anti-Oli camp in the party, including Dahal and Nepal, has warned for not taking any decisions including the cabinet reshuffle, the appointment of new ambassadors and other appointments until the party Standing Committee meeting.
Oli is learnt to have wished to assign one former chief executive of the Nepal Investment Board as the managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority, whereas, Dahal has recommended another name. It is said that one candidate has offered 130 million rupees as commission in the assignment of the NEA managing director. Dahal has proposed that Oli can appoint his man as the chief of the Commission for Investigation on Abuse of Authority if he will accept Dahal’s recommendation to the post of the NEA chief.
People’s News Monitoring Service