Bamdev sides with Dahal in leadership tango

Published On: June 1, 2019 06:05 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

Photo: Republica/Files

Urges Oli to give up either PM post or party chair

PYUTHAN/KATHMANDU, June 1: In an apparent alignment with Pushpa Kamal Dahal, one of the two party chairpersons of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Secretariat Member Bamdev Gautam has urged Prime Minister K P Oli to be ready to either hand over the government leadership after completion of two and half years or the party chairmanship.

Speaking at an interaction organized by a NCP-affiliated journalists association in Jurmi, Pyuthan district on Friday, Gautam urged Oli, the other party chairperson, not to breach the agreement reached during the unification of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) to form the NCP.

Influential NCP leader Gautam's remarks come at a time when fresh debate has surfaced in the party after Dahal claimed in a television interview that Prime Minister Oli cannot run away from the agreement reached between the two leaders during the party merger last year.

Soon after the interview on Thursday, the five-point agreement reached between Oli and Dahal was widely shared on social media. Gautam, who was vice-chairperson of the then UML, has warned that any attempt to breach the agreement could foil the party unification process.

“What has been written in the agreement will be implemented and no one is going to breach it because any attempt to go against it could foil the unification process,” said Gautam.

He further insisted that Oli should be ready to choose between the post of prime minister and that of party chairperson, with a view to accommodating all voices in the party.

Gautam's siding with Dahal has raised eyebrows among NCP leaders as the party is now in the process of concluding the unification of all its sister wings.

Asked about the agreement, NCP senior leader Subas Nembang said they didn't know much about it. “The party unification process is nearing the concluding stage on the basis of the mutual understanding between the two leaders. The party even decided to create the positions of two chairpersons as per their proposal. The NCP rank and file have been accepting and will accept each and every decision taken by the two leaders in future as well,” said Nembang.