Dahal-Nepal faction lays out next phase of protests

Kathmandu, January 2

The faction of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal announced its second phase of nationwide protests against the dissolution of the House of Representatives.

The Dahal-Nepal faction announced its month-long solo protest after its effort to rope in the Nepali Congress and Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal for a joint struggle against the dissolution of the HoR failed.

The faction will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on January 8 through all 77 district administration offices demanding apology from him for dissolving the HoR, and restoration of the HoR.

It will organise a protest rally and a mass gathering on February 5 in Kathmandu valley. On February 4, the faction will bring out torch rallies in all wards of the local levels.

The Dahal-Nepal faction also announced that it would read out the constitutional provisions on the streets and interpret those provisions on January 10. On January 12, the rival faction will distribute pamphlets to households and erect red flags against the dissolution of the Lower House and on January 18, it will organise protest programmes in all local levels. On January 29, the Dahal-Nepal faction will organise protest programmes in five provinces — Province-1, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces. The faction said it would organise protests in Province 2 on January 30.

The faction said in its press release that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was merely a caretaker prime minister, and he had no power to induct ministers into his Cabinet. The faction also said that the PM had acted beyond the scope of the constitution by taking some major decisions. He said the PM had gone on record saying that he had not taken any decision in the Constitutional Council meeting called as per the new ordinance, but later it was announced that the same Constitutional Council had made recommendation for appointments in constitutional bodies. The Dahal-Nepal faction also said that it would continue its protest until the HoR was restored.

NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said his party wanted to hold joint protests with the NC and JSP-N, but as the NC’s Central Working Committee was still debating the issue, they decided to launch their own protest programme.

Feature Image: File