Oli likely to score again
KATHMANDU, MAY 13
The opposition alliance of Nepali Congress and NCP- Maoist Centre has failed to gather majority in a bid to present claim to government, paving way for KP Sharma Oli to once again take charge of national affairs.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Monday had given the parliamentary parties three-days' time to form a majority government and present their claim at her office.
However, as the deadline, which ends at 9:00 pm today, for the same approaches, the NC-Maoist Centre alliance has its hopes crashing down as disgruntled Nepal-Khanal faction of the ruling CPN-UML did not forward their resignation, which they had been claiming to do for long as a bargaining chip with UML Chair Oli.
Head of the caretaker government KP Sharma Oli called an emergency Standing Committee meeting early today which decided to lift suspension on former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal, Surendra Pandey, Bhim Rawal and Ghanashyam Bhusal. The move was made in a bid to avert an unfavorable situation against Oli's continuity to the highest executive post.
Later, Oli and Nepal sat down for hours in Budhanilkantha discussing issues pertaining to party unity and the steps ahead.
Likewise, the Rajendra Mahato-Mahanta Thakur faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party, whose consensus is crucial for either side to gather a majority, allegedly got 13 of its lawmakers 'underground' so as to keep any kind of influence at bay. Despite the Upendra Yadav- Baburam Bhattarai faction standing dead against Oli's reemergence, Thakur-Mahoto's 'neutrality', however, proved to be a boon for Oli.
Lawmakers belonging to Thakur-Mahato faction had abstained from voting during PM Oli's floor test on Monday while the lawmakers belonging to other group had voted against him - an unsual practice of polar opposite political decisions coming from within the same party.
As the time accorded by President Bidya Devi Bhandari gradually runs out and the deadline approaches, it can well be assumed that Oli is all set to make a comeback, emerging victorious in this Game of Thrones, as the country grapples with unprecedented rise in Covid-19 cases and corresponding fatalities as the second wave of the pandemic rages on.
