KATHMANDU, Dec 28: The bid to endorse the joint political report prepared by Nepal Communist Party (NCP) chairman duo KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal hit a snag on Thursday after the dissident leaders of the party opposed it saying the document had failed to accommodate their concerns.
Responding to the concerns raised by the dissident leaders in the party’s ongoing Standing Committee (SC) meeting on Thursday, Oli asked the leaders to endorse the political dossier, promising to incorporate the “genuine” suggestions in the report later.
The dissident leaders, however, demanded that Oli clarify his position on crucial issues — proposal to enforce ‘one person, one position’, the controversy over the government hosting the Asia Pacific Summit and the government’s poor performance.
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Shortly after Oli’s proposal to endorse the document, senior leader Bam Dev Gautam, who had registered a supplementary report in the meeting, demanded that either his views be incorporated in the joint political report prepared by the chairman duo or he be allowed to register a note of dissident. Other leaders including Bhim Rawal and Ghanshyam Bhusal demanded that the party’s statute be revised so that the Standing Committee could be empowered as the supreme body instead of the Secretariat. The existing party statute mandates the Secretariat to decide the crucial issues.
Disgruntled party leaders blame the top NCP leaders of tweaking the statute. The original statute, according to the leaders, was drafted to let the Standing Committee decide the crucial issues but top leaders revised it and empowered the nine-member Secretariat as the most powerful body in the party.
Following protests by the dissident leaders, NCP Chairman Dahal deferred the party’s meeting until Friday morning. “Some theoretical issues are yet to be discussed. So, the meeting has been deferred,” said the party’s Standing Committee member Raghu Panta.
PM Oli argued it was not possible to discuss every issue at the Standing Committee, saying the government has to decide so many issues immediately.
NCP leadership is facing a strong criticism from the party leaders in the meeting regarding the delay in party unification, government’s poor performance and leading the government as per the election commitments. In his response to the disgruntled leaders, Oli, however, defended the government’s performance.
“We are taking every issue seriously and the government is trying to do its best. The parliamentary committee is investigating the wide-body aircraft scam. Efforts to resolve the Nirmala rape and murder case are underway,” leader Prithivi Subba Gurung quoted chairman Oli as saying.
Subba said the political document tabled by the chairmen duo Dahal and Oli will be endorsed on Friday.
