KATHMANDU, August 18: Senior leader of CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal is preparing to register a new political party. The UML has fallen into crisis after party Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Tuesday recommended action against 14 lawmakers, including senior leader Nepal. Leader Nepal is preparing to register a new party in a day or two.

According to a source, the party statute, political report and name have been already finalized for the registration of the new party. “There are no signs of improvement in KP Oli. Preparations are being made to register a new political party. Leaders and cadres cannot be left helpless,” said Jagannath Khatiwada, a central member close to the Nepal faction.

Leaders of the Nepal side say that there is no option than to register a new party as Chairman Oli closed doors of unity in the party. On Tuesday evening, 30 central members held an internal discussion to stop the party split. Leader Nepal is also not in favor of splitting the party if Oli is ready for unity. “If Oli treats all the party leaders with justice, the party will not be divided. But he has not guaranteed this,” the source said, quoting Nepal.

Central Committee members from the Nepal side including Tanka Karki, Arun Nepal, Surendra Manandhar, Thakur Gaire, Rabin Koirala, Bhanubhakta Joshi, Mamata Giri, Jeevan Ghimire, Niraj Acharya, Madhav Aryal, Dipak Prakash Bhatt, Yagya Raj Sunuwar, Pabitra Niraula Kharel, Raj Bahadur Budha, Jaya Bahadur Rai, Chandra Bahadur Shahi and Narayan Khatiwada are taking initiative to prevent the party from splitting. “We are of the view that the party should not be divided, but the threat is growing,” said Yagya Raj Sunuwar, a central member who participated in the discussion.

They were engaged in discussions till late at night on Monday. Similarly, Bhim Rawal, Surendra Pandey, Yogesh Bhattarai, Amrit Bohora, Yuvraj Gyawali, Ashtalaxmi Shakya, Gokarna Bista, Bhim Acharya, Hari Rai, Prataplal Shrestha, Garima Shah, Som Prasad Pandey and Jhapat Rawal are also in favor of not splitting the party. They are in a dilemma whether to go with Oli or Nepal if the party splits. Bista, Bhattarai and Bhatta have protested saying that the government has recommended the ordinance to facilitate the division of political parties.

Meanwhile, Jhala Nath Khanal, Bamdev Gautam, Mukunda Neupane, Beduram Bhusal, Raghuji Pant, Jagannath Khatiwada, Birodh Khatiwada, Shrimaya Thakali, Ram Kumari Jhakri, Prakash Jwala, Parshuram Meghi Gurung, Rajendra Pandey, Bijay Poudel, Jayanti Rai and Ram Preet Paswan and others are in line in support of registration of new party.

On Tuesday afternoon, Nepal said that Oli had closed the door of unity and that there was no alternative than to reorganize the party. Addressing a virtual meeting of leaders close to his group, senior leader Nepal said that even though they took initiative for the unity till the end, there was no alternative than to form a new party as Oli was not ready to correct himself. He said that Deputy General Secretary of the party Ghanshyam Bhusal had said that he would take the final initiative for unity and that he had agreed to that. 

 
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