KATHMANDU, JUNE 05
The Madhav Kumar Nepal-Jhalanath Khanal faction of the CPN-UML held its Standing Committee meeting today and concluded that party Chair and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's acts against the constitution and democracy had brought it to a stage wherein the faction was being compelled to open a new political party.
UML Standing Committee member Yubaraj Gyawali, who is close to Nepal, said their faction leaders were of the view that if Oli was ready to apologise for dissolution of the House of Representatives and revive party committees and structures that existed before the CPN-UML's merger with the CPN-Maoist Centre, then their faction was ready to patch up their differences with the Oli faction.
"But if the way PM Oli has acted in the last few months is any indicator, he is not in favour of unity," Gyawali said, and added that Oli was using the unity talks card only because he faced a challenge to his rule. "He agreed to form unity talks task force just to secure a win for Ram Bahadur Thapa in the National Assembly because he dismantled the task force after Thapa lost the election," Gyawali added.
According to him, the faction spoke against the PM's moves dissolving the HoR twice in the last six months because his moves were aimed at derailing the constitution, democracy and reversing the hard-earned political gains. He said the democratic alliance of five parties was a big achievement as it guarded against any move that would undermine the constitution and democracy. Gyawali said Oli was making changes in the party in violation of the party statute and the mandate of the party's ninth General Convention.
Meanwhile, 15 UML Standing Committee members from the Nepal-Khanal faction issued a press release today condemning Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Urban Development Rajendra Mahato's remarks that his party would continue to champion the cause of multi-nation state. Mahato had made this remark after assuming office yesterday.
They said Mahato's talk of waging a liberation struggle for a multi-nation state, which had been rejected by the Constituent Assembly, was against Nepal's territorial integrity and national interests. They have demanded that the PM clarify Mahato's remarks.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 6, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
