Kathmandu, October 22

A meeting of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Secretariat today discussed the letter of disagreement registered with the party secretariat by senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and decided ‘not to repeat the mistake’.

Nepal had written against the secretariat’s selection of in-charges, co-in-charges, chairs and secretaries of provincial committees, stating that the decision was taken in his absence when he was on a foreign visit.

The meeting discussed the letter in which Nepal had said the party was not being run according to rules and procedures, said NCP Spokesperson Narayan kaji Shrestha. “Other secretariat members also put forth their views on Nepal’s letter,” Shrestha said. “The meeting agreed to pay attention to the issues raised by Nepal in the coming days.”

After Nepal agreed to implement the secretariat’s decision on office bearers of provincial committees, the decision was endorsed at today’s meeting, said Shrestha.

The secretariat had selected in-charges in six out of seven provinces from the erstwhile CPN-UML, while Janardhan Sharma from the former CPN-Maoist Centre was selected as in-charge of Karnali province.

Nepal had opposed the decision stating that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had selected provincial in-charges on the basis of nepotism and favouritism. “The meeting agreed not to repeat such mistakes in the coming days” said Shrestha.

Today’s meeting was held at the PM’s official residence in Baluwatar after Oli and Dahal met to sort out the intra-party dispute over selection of members of provincial and district committees.

The NCP leaders will discuss other political issues and the government’s performance in the standing committee meeting scheduled for October 29 and 30.

Shrestha said another secretariat meeting on Wednesday would discuss provincial committees, unification of the party’s sister organisations and district committees as well as the government’s performance.

Today’s meeting rejected the resignation of Spokesperson Shrestha, who had put in papers a few months ago over decisions taken by Oli and Dahal on Dr Govinda KC’s struggle.

A source said Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ishwor Pokharel was defensive regarding his statement against party leaders. While some secretariat members criticised Oli’s style of functioning, others criticised Pokharel’s statement. Only General Secretary Bishnu Poudel remained neutral.

Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam openly criticised Oli and Pokharel, while Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam criticised Pokharel.