KATHMANDU, JULY 10

The ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has postponed its Standing Committee meeting for a week.

NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha wrote on his Twitter handle that the party took the decision to postpone its Standing Committee meeting to enable the party’s rank and file in the rescue and rehabilitation of flood and landslide affected people across the country.

Shrestha told THT that the decision to postpone the Standing Committee meeting keeping in mind the weather forecast that predicted heavy rain across the country in the next three to four days. “We want to mobilise our cadres to warn people in vulnerable settlements to move to safe areas and to rehabilitate and rescue disasters affected people,” he said, adding that the Standing Committee meeting would be convened after a week to resolve the issues being discussed.

A majority of the Standing Committee members have asked Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to quit the post of PM. Some leaders, including former prime minister Jhala Nath Khanal have asked the PM to quit both posts of prime minister and party chair.

Standing Committee member Beduram Bhusal, who is close to senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, told THT that there was no need to postpone the Standing Committee meeting. He said patch up between the two co-chairs was not the genuine solution to the current problems in the party.

“The major problem that our party has been facing right now is the PM’s attitude of placing himself above the party. He does not abide by the party decisions and rules and we have to establish that everybody abides by the party decisions and rules,”

Bhusal said and added that if the two co-chairs patched up their differences this time too, differences were bound to crop up again. “Our fight is for institutional decision.

The PM thinks he is above the party. He tries not to call party meetings. Whenever he calls the party meetings, he delivers his speech but does not attend the meeting afterwards and he does not listen to other leaders,” Bhusal said.