‘Unilateral decisions’ of PM rile NCP leaders

Kathmandu, November 18

Senior leaders of Nepal Communist Party (NCP), including Co-chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal, are annoyed with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for appointing his favourites in several institutions without consulting them.

NCP leaders are awaiting the next meeting of the party’s secretariat to vent their ire on the PM. The secretariat meeting is expected to be held on Thursday. According to a senior NCP leader, PM Oli does not consult Dahal, who is in constant touch with him, regarding political appointments.

Dahal today met Oli at Baluwatar and discussed several issues, including political appointments, issues related to party organisation and the government’s performance, sources said.

According to a Standing Committee member, almost all leaders are angry with Oli. “He does not consult any of his advisers. It’s as if his advisers function only as his employees. The PM does not even listen to party leaders’ advice,” he told THT.

According to him, Oli makes up his mind about appointing certain individuals in certain institutions and asks senior leaders about those persons without telling them that he wants to appoint them in the institutions.

“The leader with who the PM has talked vaguely about certain individuals thinks the PM will make some proposals and decide after consulting other leaders. A few days later the leader reads in the newspapers that the person the PM had referred to in passing has already been appointed,” the leader said.

There are several cases when the PM has kept other leaders in the dark. According to the Standing Committee member, the PM’s decision was unilateral when he recommended Nilambar Acharya as Nepal’s ambassador to India and Anjan Shakya as ambassador to Israel. The PM did not consult top leaders while appointing Sushil Gyawali as chief executive officer of National Reconstruction Authority, Madan Kharel as executive chairperson of the Nepal Airlines Corporation, Digambar Jha as chairperson of Nepal Telecom Authority and Suraj Baidhya as national coordinator of Nepal visit year 2020.

Senior NCP leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal, NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha and secretariat member Bamdev Gautam are against Oli’s unilateral decisions and are planning to oppose them in the upcoming meeting.

“The PM awards plum posts to those he favours and punishes those who oppose him,” the leader said. According to him, Rajan Bhattarai, who switched his loyalty from Madhav Kumar Nepal to Oli, was appointed security and foreign affairs adviser mainly because he had become his strong supporter. PM’s Press Adviser Kundan Aryal said he did not think the PM was taking unilateral decisions in appointing people in various institutions. “I see leaders and advisers meeting the PM quite frequently,” he told THT.

Top leaders blame Oli for the delayed merger of the party’s lower committees. Senior leaders are taking initiative to hold the Standing Committee meeting to finalise party unification.

Merging provincial committees, districts committees,  sister organisations, politburo, formation of commissions, departments, national adviser and national council is the main agenda of the party’s upcoming Standing Committee meeting. The Standing Committee has not met since July 5 although its meetings are supposed to be held every three months as per the party statute. Members of the Central Committee are also jobless.