KATHMANDU, Jan 1: Prime Minister KP Oli has said that the application filed by the Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Nepal-led faction regarding the official recognition of their faction as the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) was trashed by the election body.
Addressing a virtual meeting of the Nepali Ekta Manch close to the ruling faction of NCP, Prime Minister Oli claimed that the EC had returned the application after it did not meet the criteria. Earlier, the Dahal-Nepal faction of the NCP had filed an application demanding that they be officially recognized as NCP with its election symbol, Sun.
On the occasion, Prime Minister Oli said his faction of the NCP was the official one and the election symbol ‘sun’ legitimately belongs to them. He argued that both the party’s name and the election symbol were with their faction of the NCP.
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However, EC officials claimed that they were yet to make any decision to this effect. EC Spokesperson Raj Kumar Shrestha said he was not aware of any such decision.
“I have come to learn that they [Dahal-Nepal faction] have filed an application with the Election Commission. But the Election Commission yesterday [Thursday] returned the application saying that it did not meet the criteria and was inappropriate. They had made a claim that they were the official party,” the prime minister said in the virtual meeting. “ But the Election Commission returned their application saying it did not include all parts [ of the application] as well as necessary details and failed to mention even relevant laws and there was thus no point in filing the application as it did not have any evidence.”
Prime Minister Oli argued that there is no need to go to the Election Commission since the election symbol, Sun, belongs to them. He argued that the Sun remained the election system with them since the early 1990s.
Under Secretary (Law) at the Election Commission Ganga Kharel said he was yet to receive the application. Information Office at the Election Commission Surya Prasad Aryal also expressed his ignorance about the development.
NCP leader close to the Dahal-Nepal faction Krishna Bhakta Pokharel said the application they had filed earlier with the EC has not been scrapped yet. “The Election Commission is yet to give its response on this. The prime minister has told a blatant lie about this,” he said.
