Kathmandu September 29

Mistrust among top leaders of Nepal Communist Party (NCP), particularly between the co-chairs and between the party leadership and Madhav Kumar Nepal, has impacted the party.

This mistrust was reflected when both chairs — KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal — flew out of the country without  appointing any acting chair. Party sources said Nepal expected to be acting chair in their absence and this led him to flay his own party’s government on Thursday in the House of Representatives. He organised a separate meeting of standing committee leaders yesterday to discuss his dissatisfaction with the selection of 28 office bearers of provincial committees and some other decisions taken ‘unilaterally by the two chairs and General Secretary BishnuPaudel’ NCP sources said.

Even former CPN-MC leaders are not satisfied with selection of office bearers as the former party got only one in-charge of the seven provinces and Nepal’s faction got three in-charges and the Oli faction got three.

An NCP source said division and mistrust among top leaders has confused the party’s rank and file who think the formation of district and other local level committees are being delayed because of this rift.

Sources said Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is also not happy with Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal for visiting India and China. Dahal has also criticised the government for its poor performance. “The PM indirectly told Dahal he had recently visited India and China and the latter didn’t need to visit both countries,” a source at the PM’s secretariat said.

Standing Committee member AstaLaxmiShakya told THTthat  dissatisfied leaders wanted  the standing committee to decide on vital issues, not the party secretariat

“The SC should evaluate government performance and discuss leaders’ dissatisfaction,” Shakya said, adding that the government’s policy and programme should also be discussed in the SC and  the government should correct its moves as per the SC’s suggestions.

“The party secretariat should be a platform for making agendas and the standing committee should function as an executive panel. Power should be exercised by the SC, she argued, adding that the party should take an institutional approach rather than being guided by the two chairs. Discussing issues in the SC will make it democratic,” she said, adding that the two chairs must call the SC meeting after returning.

PM Oli, who is attending the UNGA, will return on Thursday from New York and Dahal, who is in Singapore, is expected back before Thursday.