NCP's Standing Committee meeting deferred for Wednesday

KATHMANDU, July 6: The ‘crucial’ Standing Committee meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) which was scheduled to be held today has been postponed yet again.

According to Ramsharan Bajgain, press aide to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, the meeting has been deferred for Wednesday [July 8].

Another press aide to PM Oli, Surya Thapa took to Twitter to share that the meeting will be held on Wednesday at 11 am.

Earlier, Saturday’s meeting was postponed at the last minute apparently to provide enough time to the top leaders to resolve the internal rifts within the NCP.

The two chairmen of the party, KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal have held a series of meetings in an apparent bid to minimize their differences before going for the crucial Standing Committee meeting. Although the chairmen duo held a two-hour meeting on Friday, they could not reach consensus. Prime Minister Oli has maintained that he is ready to hold talks on all issues except his resignation from the posts of prime minister and the party’s chairman. As many as 30 members of the party’s Standing Committee had earlier demanded Prime Minister Oli to step down from both posts.

They also had an hour-long meeting on Sunday afternoon. However, they could not reach a conclusion. They, however, agreed to sit again for talks to minimize their differences before the crucial Standing Committee meeting which was scheduled for Monday.

The party’s General Secretary Bishnu Poudel, who was one of those attending the meeting held between Oli and Dahal, said the discussions between Oli and Dahal had ended on a positive note. Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Barshaman Pun, who accompanied Chairman Dahal during the meeting, said that the meeting primarily focused on the ways to reduce the widening gap between the two top leaders. He also said that the two chairmen will again hold discussion to end the deadlock within the NCP.

Before meeting Oli on Sunday, the top leaders of the rival factions held a meeting with President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Chairman Dahal and senior leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal reached the President’s official residence at Sheetal Niwas to apprise President Bhandari of the intra-party political development.

Refuting Prime Minister Oli’s claim that conspiracies were being hatched by the rival faction leaders also to oust the president from power, the leaders said that they did not have such plans and that it was just a rumor. They also urged President Bhandari not to endorse the ‘wrong moves’ taken by the government amid speculation that Prime Minister Oli was introducing an ordinance to split the party.

While urging President Bhandari not to approve any ‘wrong move’ if taken by PM Oli, the leaders also made a reference to Prime Minister Oli’s “plan to introduce an ordinance that makes it easier to split the NCP.

Meanwhile, Chairman Dahal has reached the Official Residence of Prime Minister Oli in Baluwatar to hold a fresh round of discussion to settle their differences. NCP sources said the two leaders are expected to bury the hatchet and save the party from an imminent split.