KATHMANDU, MARCH 23

CPN-UML Chair KP Sharma Oli presented his political document in the party's central committee meeting, stating that an attempt may be made to disrupt local polls by using the case filed against appointments made on the basis of recommendation of the Constitutional Council.

The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court is hearing the case filed against appointments made by the Oli government in multiple constitutional bodies.

Oli said the structure of the EC could be adversely affected and local polls could become uncertain. Some election commissioners were appointed by the Oli government when he amended the Constitutional Council Act through an ordinance.

He said the upcoming local polls were going to be a referendum between people's mandate and court mandamus. Oli has been saying that since the Sher Bahadur Deuba government was formed due to the Supreme Court's mandamus order, it did not reflect people's mandate.

Oli said people's growing confidence in the UML was the main basis for the party's victory in the upcoming polls. After local polls, power balance would change in the UML's favour as people's attraction towards his party was increasing in all provinces, including Madhes. Oli said people's attraction towards his party would help cement national unity in the country.

Poll date was announced only after UML, EC, and public put pressure on the govt to do so

He stated that the trend of CPN-Maoist Centre leaders and cadres leaving the mother party to join the CPN-UML pointed towards his party's popularity.

He said the government was trying to delay the local polls and it was only after the UML, the Election Commission and public put pressure on the government to announce polls date that the government finally announced the date for local polls.

He claimed that the ruling party moved an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana with an ulterior motive. The ruling coalition first tries to use the judiciary to serve its interests and when it sees that it no longer needs a justice, it moves an impeachment motion, Oli stated in his document.

He claimed that in the last eight months since Deuba came to power, economy was in doldrums. He said inflation had risen from 2.9 per cent to 7.11 per cent in the past eight months. Oli also accused the government of misusing 2.4 million COVID vaccines.

He referred to the letter CPN- MC Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal wrote to American authorities committing to pass the Millennium Challenge Corporation deal in four to five months but later misled the public by saying that he had not written any such letter to American authorities.

He said the MCC laid bare the ruling coalition partners' double standards as they called the MCC deal anti-national and provoked their cadres to protest against the deal.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 24, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.