KATHMANDU, Nov 7:Five of the nine Secretariat members of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) have sought the consent of Prime Minister KP Oli, who is also the party’s chairman, to hold the Secretariat meeting at the earliest to resolve various differences seen within the party.

A team led by Executive Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal made the request to the prime minister to summon the Secretariat meeting of the party during a meeting held in Baluwatar on Saturday afternoon. “During our meeting with the prime minister, we have asked him in writing to give consent to hold the Secretariat meeting,” said NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha.

Dahal was accompanied by senior leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, Bam Dev Gautam and Spokesperson Shrestha. They maintain there is an urgent need to call a Secretariat meeting to hold discussion on a number of issues including the COVID-19 pandemic and the health and economic problems it has created in the country, implementation of the decisions taken by the party’s Standing Committee meeting and the latest crisis seen within the party.

However, the prime minister, who earlier threatened to split the party if any meeting of any party committees are held unilaterally by the rival faction, has not given any word about their request yet. “Chairman Oli did not say anything about the Secretariat meeting today. We have asked him to hold serious discussion on all these matters in the Secretariat meeting tomorrow [Sunday], if not the day after tomorrow [Monday],” Shrestha said.

Sources said rival faction leaders have threatened to call a formal meeting of the party’s Secretariat after Monday if the prime minister did not give his consent. The meeting of the NCP’s rival faction leaders with the prime minister comes a day after Executive Chairman Dahal held an informal meeting of the party’s Secretariat members in Dhumbarahi. The meeting, however, was boycotted by the leaders close to Prime Minister Oli.

Prime Minister Oli has maintained that Secretariat and Standing Committee meetings should be called after the two chairmen in the party settle all their differences. Since the disputes between the two leaders have not yet been resolved despite a series of talks, Oli has stood against calling any meeting now.

 
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