Team News Riveting
The simmering difference among the who’s who in the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has started spilling out in open.
Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli had come under the scanner for acting in a unilateral manner without consulting the party, the ruling Nepal Communist Party-NCP.
Oli and NCP chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal had reached an understanding in mid-September. Oli committed himself to running the government in consultation with the party and to seek the party secretariat’s approval before taking major decisions or making any important appointments.
The matter took another twist when he unilaterally made fresh appointments to the posts of chief secretary and ambassadors to the UK, USA and South Africa last week. A section of ruling party leaders see it as violation of the agreement between both the heavyweights.
Many leaders in the party knew that Oli, due to intrinsic authoritarian nature, would revert to his old ways of acting unilaterally and in an arbitrary manner. The ruling party was on the verge of split following three months of raging factionalism.
There is more trouble on the horizon. NCP leaders say that the impending cabinet reshuffle is likely to bring the deep fault lines within the party out in the open.
Oli, as head of the government, wants a free hand to reshuffle the cabinet. But Dahal, Nepal and other top leaders want Oli to accommodate their aides. Oli is reluctant to entertain. Dahal and Nepal want Oli to dissolve the cabinet and make fresh appointments on party’s note.
That unilateral assertion by Oli had put the agreement under cold carpet; triggering a rift within the party again. An angry Dahal started forging alliances with senior party leader Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal (another former prime minister) and Bamdev Gautam (a former deputy PM).
This alliance grew strong and started exerting pressure on Oli to mend his ways and adhere to inner-party democracy. But Oli prefers to ignore.
The differences has assumed such a proportion that the cabinet reshuffle has to be put on hold.
