Meet on Oli future postponed again
Kathmandu, July 6: Nepal’s embattled Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Monday held another round of talks with the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to sort out their differences as the party’s crucial Standing Committee meeting was once again postponed till Wednesday, in a bid to provide them more time to agree on a power-sharing deal.
The meeting of the ruling party’s 45-member powerful Standing Committee was scheduled to be held on Monday. But it was postponed at the last minute. The political future of 68-year-old Oil will now be decided on Wednesday during the Standing Committee meeting.
The differences between the two factions of the NCP — one led by Oli and the other led by Prachanda on the issue of powersharing — intensified after the prime minister unilaterally decided to prorogue the budget session of Parliament on Thursday.
The Prachanda faction, backed by senior leaders and former prime ministers Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal, has been demanding Oli’s resignation. On Monday, Oli and
Prachanda held another round of talks to sort out their differences.
The two top leaders have held a series of talks in recent days amid the intense intra-party rift over Oli’s style of functioning and anti-India statements. Their meeting on Monday ended on a “positive note”, My Republica newspaper reported. The two leaders will again meet on Tuesday. On Sunday, China’s ambassador Hou Yanqi met with the senior leader of the NCP and former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal, amidst the growing demand for PM Oli’s resignation.
According to a senior NCP leader, Hou met Madhav Nepal at his residence in Koteshwor and they discussed the current situation. The Chinese envoy also called on President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Sunday, the paper said. This is not the first time that the Chinese ambassador has intervened in Nepal’s internal affairs at a time of crisis.
One-and-a-half months ago, when the NCP’s intra-party feud reached the climax, Hou held separate meetings with President Bhandari, PM Oli and other senior leaders, including Prachanda and Madhav Nepal.