PM Oli likely to skip the meeting

KATHMANDU, Dec 6: The Standing Committee meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) which has been scheduled for this afternoon is holding deliberation on the proposals tabled earlier by the chairmen duo KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the party Secretariat, party leaders said.

The crucial meeting of the party will start at 1PM at the party headquarters Dhumbarahi. Earlier on Saturday, a majority of the leaders within the party Secretariat had decided to forward the proposals of the two chairmen to the party's Standing Committee after they failed to take call on the 19- page proposal registered by Dahal and 38-page rebuttal by PM Oli.

The Standing Committee meeting comes at a time when the intra-party rift within the ruling NCP at its peak due to rivalry between the two factions led by Oli and Dahal over various issues, including the performance of the Oli-led government.

It is still unclear whether chairperson Oli, who is also the prime minister, will take part in the meeting, according to leaders. During a one-on-one meeting with Dahal on Saturday, Oli is said to have expressed his unwillingness to join the Standing Committee meeting. However, Dahal insisted that Oli must attend the meeting and face questions to be raised by Standing Committee members.

In their meeting, Oli also said that a joint proposal should be prepared and discussed at the party Secretariat. Despite Oli's reluctance, the Standing Committee meeting is holding deliberation on both the proposals tabled by the chairmen duo which is currently under discussion at the party Secretariat.

"If Oli wants to keep the party unity intact, he must join today's Standing Committee meeting and listen to everyone," a leader close to Chairperson Dahal told Republica.

The Oli-faction has been arguing that the proposal tabled by Dahal was not valid since it was unilaterally prepared by Dahal. "Such a proposal should be readied only with the consent of the two chairpersons," Subash Nembang, a leader close to Oli said.

Nembang said that chairperson Oli was forced to come with a rebuttal after Dahal came heavily against his government.

Senior leaders of the party Jhalanath Khanal and Madhav Kumar Nepal have also raised questions over chairperson Oli's rebuttal saying that it was Oli who forced Dahal to come up with the political proposal. The Oli faction has accused Dahal of harboring factionalism within the party, while Dahal has blamed Oli for being autocratic. 

Chairman Dahal has also raised questions on the incumbent government's performance, asking indirectly Oli to step down from the post. 

Earlier on November 28, Oli presented a 38-page-long rebuttal in response to a 19-page-long political paper presented earlier by Dahal. 

Arguing that the political paper presented by Dahal was against the principles and values of the communist party, Oli demanded withdrawing the political paper presented earlier by Dahal in the party’s Secretariat meeting. Oli termed the report tabled by Dahal as an ‘allegation paper’.

 
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