Nepal PM Oli 'tired of making deals with Prachanda'; Chinese ploy to restore unity fails

Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Wednesday said that he is "tired of making deals" with the rival faction leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' and accused him of breaching various agreements reached between them on several occasions to keep the ruling Nepal Communist Party's unity intact.

According to My Republica newspaper, Oli's remarks came hours after a four-member Chinese delegation led by Vice Minister of the International Department of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) Guo Yezhou returned home without much success in its mission to patch up differences between Nepal's feuding leaders.

'I am tired of making deals with Dahal'

Addressing party leaders and cadres of his faction from Sudurpaschim Province in Kathmandu, Oli came down heavily against leaders of the rival faction for their non-cooperation in running the party and government for the past two years since he came to power.

Oli, who is also the chairperson of a faction of the NCP, accused Prachanda of breaching various agreements reached between them on multiple occasions to keep the party unity intact, it said. "In fact, Prachandaji was negotiating with the Nepali Congress to form the government and at the same time he was bargaining with me although we (two communist parties) won elections after forging an electoral alliance," Oli said.  

"I am tired of making deals with Dahal (Prachanda)," Oli said, adding that he had reached a number of agreements with the former Prime Minister for keeping the party unity intact.

Oli rules out the possibility of revival of monarchy

Oli-led CPN-UML and Prachanda-led NCP (Maoist Centre) merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following the victory of their alliance in the 2017 general elections. Oli urged Prachanda to renounce politics of betrayal, the report said.  

Maintaining that there is no constitutional provision to reinstate Parliament, Oli said he was forced to dissolve the House after knowing that the Prachanda-led faction was planning to file a no-confidence motion against him and introduce an impeachment motion against President Bidya Devi Bhandari in Parliament.

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"Now, Dahal, Nepal and Khanal are pretending themselves as revolutionary. Isn't this ironic?" he questioned. On a separate note, Oli ruled out the possibility of revival of monarchy. "No one can snatch away the hard-earned democratic gains at this moment," he added.

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Nepal's Supreme Court on Friday issued a show-cause notice to the Oli-led government, asking it to submit a written clarification over its decision to abruptly dissolve Parliament. The five-member Constitutional bench headed by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana asked the government to submit an original copy of the recommendations made by it to dissolve the House and the decision made by the President to authenticate the government's recommendations within 10 days.

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Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after Oli, known for his pro-Beijing leanings, in a surprise move, recommended dissolving the 275-member House, amidst a tussle for power with Prachanda. Acting on the prime minister's recommendation, President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House the same day and announced fresh elections on April 30 and May 10, sparking protests from a large section of the NCP led by Prachanda, also a co-chair of the ruling party.

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(With PTI inputs)