KATHMANDU, JANUARY 29
Nepal Communist Party (NCP) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal today sought more time from the Election Commission to discuss the political party registration process for the mid-term polls scheduled for April 30 and May 10.
Earlier, the EC had written letters to NCP factions led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Dahal-Nepal, telling them to send five representatives to the EC today to discuss political party registration and other matters related to poll preparation. The EC, which recently refused to recognise the NCP split, treated Oli and Dahal as co-chairpersons of the NCP.
Although the two factions of the NCP claim to be the authentic NCP, the EC has not legitimised changes in the party leadership after the December 20 dissolution of the House of Representatives.
EC Commissioner Ishwori Prasad Paudyal told mediapersons today that the poll panel had not dealt with the NCP authenticity issue, as none of the factions claimed to be the authentic party as per Section 44 of the Political Party Act. He said the EC refused to update the changes made by the two factions post December 20.
When asked why the EC was not dealing with the NCP authenticity issue, Paudyal said, "It is like partition of share issues in a family. Unless a family member goes to the court, the court does not take up the issue."
Subas Chandra Nembang, Bishnu Paudel, and other leaders who represented Oli, told the Election Commission that they were ready for mid-term polls.
They told the EC to be prepared to hold the polls on the stipulated date as the Supreme Court had not stayed the dissolution of the House of Representatives, Nembang told THT.
"The Election Commission has given its ruling on the party's authenticity dispute and now it should focus on poll preparations," Nembang told EC office bearers.
Rajendra Pandey and Lilamani Pokharel from the Dahal-Nepal faction of the NCP handed over a letter to the EC saying that the party co-chairpersons could not nominate their representatives as they were out of the valley.
The Dahal-Nepal faction requested the EC to reschedule the discussion at an appropriate date and time after January 31.
The Dahal-Nepal faction had removed Oli as NCP chairman and replaced him with Madhav Kumar Nepal after Oli dissolved the House. On the other hand, Oli had removed Dahal as executive chairman and added more than 500 members to the party's central committee.
