Nepal's ruling Communist Party forms task force to resolve rift within

Kathmandu, August 14

The ruling Nepal Communist Party on Friday formed a six-member task force to resolve the intra-party rift as Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the party’s executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ resumed their talks after a hiatus of over a week.

The task force, led by General Secretary Bishnu Poudel, will recommend ways to sort out the differences in the party after Prachanda and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal demanded Prime Minister Oli’s resignation.

The task force also includes Standing Committee members Shankar Pokhrel, Janardan Sharma, Bhim Rawal, Surendra Pandey and Pampha Bhusal, according to party sources.

The decision to form the task force was taken after a meeting between Oli and Prachanda on Friday.

The two leaders resumed their talks on Thursday and held a one-on-one meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar in Kathmandu to sort out their differences and resolve the intra-party rift. This was their first meeting after over a week.

Oli during a television interview on Wednesday said that the ongoing intra-party tussle will be settled within five days.

Oli and Prachanda have held several meetings to sort out the differences between them. But, as the Prime Minister did not accept the condition of a one-man-one-post, the talks failed. Oli has refused to give up his post as Prime Minister as well as a co-chairman of the NCP.

A bitter internal feud has been brewing in the ruling NCP after top party leaders, including Prachanda, demanded Oli’s resignation, saying his recent anti-India remarks were “neither politically correct nor diplomatically appropriate”.

They are also against Oli’s autocratic style of functioning.

The differences grew further after Oli said that some of the ruling party leaders were aligning with the southern neighbour to remove him from power after his government issued a new political map incorporating three Indian territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura.

The two leaders are also engaged in tightening their grip within the party with the escalation of the intra-party feud. PTI