Kathmandu, March 10

There’s more to the calm in the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) than meets the eye, as second-rung leaders intensify talks to bridge the latest intra-party rift that followed the secretariat’s decision to recommend NCP Deputy Chairperson Bamdev Gautam to the National Assembly.

Silence set in abruptly after NCP Chairperson and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was hospitalised for kidney transplant surgery on March 2. PM Oli, who underwent a successful surgery on March 4, is presently recovering at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu.

Other top leaders including Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal too have stayed mum, giving an impression that issues in NCP have been sorted out. However, party insiders attribute the leaders’ silence to ‘moral pressure’ as Oli recovers. “Things stand as they were,” said a standing committee member. “Mistrust prevails.”

PM Oli got hospitalised at the peak of the dispute, which intensified after he rejected the party secretariat’s unanimous decision to recommend Gautam to the NA. Oli was in favour of reappointing Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada. Moreover, just as he was admitted to the hospital, Oli took some crucial decisions, such as recalling Nepal’s Ambassador to China Leela Mani Paudyal, who’s known to be close to Dahal. Oli also re-appointed Khatiwada as finance minister who had resigned after his two-year NA tenure ended.

As it is the Oli-led Cabinet that will decide who to recommend for the president’s nomination to the National Assembly and the party can just ‘request’ the government, Gautam’s fate now hangs in balance. “The status quo continues and efforts are being made to break it,” said another standing committee member.

Gautam is backed by Dahal, Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal and Narayan Kaji Shrestha. On the other hand, Oli only has Ishwor Pokhrel and Bishnu Paudel on his side in the nine-member secretariat. Oli has fallen in minority in the secretariat ever since the Dahal camp met at Guatam’s Bhaisepati residence in early January, which culminated in Dahal’s favourite Agni Prasad Sapkota’s appointment as the speaker of the House of Representatives.

It was that meeting that pressured PM Oli to back down from his stance to appoint Subas Chandra Nembang as the HoR leader, and put PM Oli in minority in the secretariat.

Subsequent secretariat decisions, such as those related to Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact Programme and resignation of Oli’s confidante Gokul Baskota as the minister of communications and information technology, also came against Oli’s wish. However, Oli is in no mood to back down soon. Just after the secretariat decided to recommend Gautam to the NA against his wish, Oli held hours-long meeting with Nepal in what insiders see a bid to woo Nepal away from Dahal camp.

Insiders also see Oli’s decision to recommend Nepal’s close ally Mahendra Bahadur Pandey as Nepal’s ambassador to China replacing Paudel as part of the bid to woo Nepal.

The decision to nominate Pandey as ambassador came after the Oli-Nepal Baluwatar meet. “Nepal has so far held on to the ‘Bhaisepati understanding’, and things would unfold only after Oli is discharged from hospital,” said the standing committee member. As Oli now recovers from surgery and is advised not to meet people for a few more days, leaders close to Oli—including Province-5 Chief Minister Shanker Pokhrel and Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, and NCP General Secretary Bishnu Paudel—have intensified meetings. They have met Nepal, Gautam and Khanal over the past few days to chart a middle path to resolve the feud, but a resolution is yet to be achieved. Dahal camp has advised a middle ground where Khatiwada could be continued as finance minister for six months as per constitutional provision, and Gautam be nominated to the NA in Khatiwada’s place. However, after losing his trusted lieutenant Baskota after an audiotape scandal, Oli is apparently cautious not to lose another one—Khatiwada.

“Negotiations are under way. Both the sides seem firm on their stands,” said a NCP leader. “This situation will end only after the two chairmen Dahal and Oli sit together.”