KATHMANDU, May 18 (PTI): Nepal’s ruling CPN-UML headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has formed a 10-member joint task force from the two rival factions to iron out intra-party differences that threatens the stability of the minority government, according to media reports.
Oli, who is the chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist, on Sunday last held a one-on-one meeting with Madhav Kumar Nepal, who heads the rival faction of the party, and decided to form a taskforce with five members from each group to resolve their differences, the Himalayan Times newspaper reported on Monday.
The task force is supposed to forge a consensus on resurrecting the party as it was on May 16, 2018, according to MyRepublica news portal.
While Nepal’s camp will be led by Bhim Bahadur Rawal, Oli faction will be led by deputy parliamentary party leader Subas Chandra Nembang, the report said.
The other members from the Nepal faction in the taskforce are Ghanashyam Bhusal, Gokarna Bista, Raghu Panta and Surendra Pandey.
The other members of the Oli faction are minister of finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel, minister of foreign affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, PM’s chief adviser Bishnu Rimal and Lumbini chief minister Shankar Pokharel.
CPN-UML lawmakers of the Nepal faction had initially threatened to resign from the House of Representatives en masse. However, the lawmakers dropped the idea after Oli withdrew action taken against four dissident leaders, including Nepal, for working against the party following a meeting between the two rival leaders on Thursday, ahead of the trust vote.
On May 10, when Oli sought a vote of confidence, 28 lawmakers from the Nepal faction abstained from voting, resulting in the 69-year-old Prime Minister losing a trust vote in the House of Representatives.
Oli was reappointed as Prime Minister on Thursday last as the Opposition alliance of Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) on Thursday failed to muster majority support to form the next government.
However, as per rules, Oli is required to win the vote of confidence within 30 days from the date of the appointment.
At present 136 votes are needed to form a majority government in the 275-member House.
The CPN-UML, headed by Oli, is the largest party with 121 seats in the House. Nepali Congress and Maoist Centre have 61 and 49 seats in the lower house.
After its alliance Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Centre) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ withdrew its support to the Oli government, it was reduced to a minority one.
Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 last year after President Bhandari dissolved the House and announced fresh elections on April 30 and May 10 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, amidst a tussle for power within the ruling NCP.
Oli’s move to dissolve the House sparked protests from a large section of the NCP led by his rival ‘Prachanda’.
In February, the apex court reinstated the dissolved House, in a setback to Oli who was preparing for snap polls.
Known for his pro-China stance, Oli had earlier served as the country’s prime minister from October 11, 2015 to August 3, 2016 during which Kathmandu’s ties with New Delhi had strained.