• Holds central committee meeting; •Pokharel tells leaders not to attend
KATHMANDU, AUGUST 05
The faction of the CPN-UML led by Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal ignored the warning issued by party General Secretary Ishwar Pokharel yesterday and held its standing committee and central committee meetings.
Pokharel had issued a press release warning party leaders not to take part in the meetings scheduled by the Nepal-Khanal faction for today.
The Nepal-Khanal faction leader Metmani Chaudhary told THT that Nepal had asked the establishment faction to settle unity issues by August 8. "Nepal's implied message was that if the establishment faction did not agree for party unity by August 8, then Nepal faction would chart out its new course," Chaudhary added.
According to Chaudhary, Nepal told the party's CC that he was ready to show maximum flexibility for party unity, but Oli wanted to split the party.
"Whenever the two sides appear to seal a unity deal, Oli plays spoilsport by making provocative remarks against us," Chaudhary quoted Nepal as telling the central committee.
Another leader of the Nepal-Khanal faction, Raghuji Panta, told mediapersons after the faction's CC meeting that Nepal wanted the party to stay united and was ready to continue unity talks with the establishment faction.
He said leaders of the Nepal-Khanal faction had told the establishment faction to stop preparations for renewing party's membership and holding the statute convention until the party committees that existed before the CPN-UML joined hands with the CPN-Maoist Centre were revived.
The establishment faction has decided to hold the statute convention on September 12 and 13.
The establishment faction has also announced that it will hold ward-level convention on September 19 and local-level convention on September 25.
According to Ram Kumari Jhakri of the Nepal-Khanal faction, most of the leaders who spoke today said unity with the establishment faction would be possible only if party Chair KP Sharma Oli apologised for dissolving the House of Representatives twice and 'forging a rightist coalition' and resigned from the posts of party chair and parliamentary party leader.
The Nepal-Khanal faction will hold its central committee meeting tomorrow as well.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 6 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
