Oli-Dahal meeting ends

Published On: July 5, 2020 02:59 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

File Photo/ Republica

KATHMANDU, July 5: A meeting between the two chairmen of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal ended a while ago.

In the meeting termed as the ‘decisive one’ amid the elevating intra-party rift within the NCP, the two chairmen sat for the talks for an hour, each having two aides. The party’s General Secretary Bishnu Poudel and Province 5 Chief Minister Shankar Pokharel accompanied Oli while Barshaman Pun and Janardan Sharma were present in the meeting with the other chairman Dahal.

Amid growing intra-party rift within the NCP, top leaders of the rival factions held a meeting with President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Sunday morning.

Earlier, Chairman Pushpa Kamal 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. While refuting the claim made by Prime Minister Oli 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.

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

Ahead of Monday’s Standing Committee meeting, the leaders are exercising to resolve the political deadlock. The Standing Committee meeting, scheduled for Saturday, was postponed for Monday so that the leaders have enough time to hold necessary consultations in a bid to resolve the heightened rift.

The chairman duo had held a two-hour meeting on Friday, however, without any conclusion. Chairman Oli, who is also the prime minister, insists on holding discussion on all the topics other than his resignation. As many as 30 Standing Committee members, however, demand that Oli step down from both the posts.