Nepal’s ruling Communist party convenes crucial meeting to decide PM Oli’s fate

A crucial meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) was held on Saturday evening to decide the fate of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli amidst growing intra-party rift.

The secretariat meeting of the NCP at the Prime Minister's official residence Baluwatar was being watched closely as both the warring groups – Oli faction and Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Madhav Kumar Nepal faction — were expected to show their strength.

The meeting is taking place at a time when the growing intra-party disputes between the two rival factions are seeking to oust Prime Minister Oli both from the party and the government.

The Dahal-Nepal faction has demanded the resignation of Oli, alleging that his government has failed to perform up to the people's expectation.

Oli, bowing to pressure from former prime ministers Dahal - who is also known as Prachanda - and Nepal, recently withdrew two controversial bills aimed at consolidating his grip on the government and the party.

One of the bills was aimed at breaking a key Madhesi party to merge with the ruling NCP.

The Dahal-Nepal faction earlier sought to convene the party's standing committee meeting but Oli argued that he has already withdrawn the controversial ordinances and offered to mend the ways of the government.

Prime Minister Oli on Friday hit out at his political opponents for creating instability when the country was tackling the coronavirus outbreak.

Reports of conflict within the ruling NCP have surfaced in the local media, amidst China's efforts to patch up the differences.

Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi has been holding discussions with top NCP leaders, including former prime ministers, even as the political dispute intensified.

China, which has been investing heavily in Nepal in recent years, is said to be playing an active role in ensuring that infighting will not destabilise the communist government.

Hou met Prachanda and Nepal at their respective residences in Kathmandu on Friday morning and discussed different aspects of the close relation between the two countries.

Hou discussed the ongoing internal crisis in the ruling party, China’s assistance to Nepal to fight COVID-19 and Nepal’s support against the international politicisation of the coronavirus where a number of countries including the US are trying to hold Beijing accountable for the pandemic, The Kathmandu Post reported.

The Chinese envoy earlier met Prachanda for about an hour. She also met Oli a couple of days ago.