Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the ruling party’s executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on Monday held informal consultations for two hours to sort out their differences, but the talks remained inconclusive, party sources said.
The two leaders held a marathon three-hour long meeting on Sunday but failed to agree on a power-sharing deal.
“Sunday’s talks were positive and on Monday also the talks were held in the same direction,” a party leader close to the Prime Minister said.
During Monday’s meeting, Prime Minister Oli was accompanied by his close confidante Subash Nembang, who has been working as a mediator to resolve the differences between the two warring factions.
Prachanda was accompanied by senior leader and former Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal.
As the Standing Committee meeting has been postponed indefinitely, the two leaders were making efforts to decide a fresh date for the meeting of the party’s 45-member powerful body, sources said.
Prime Minister Oli postponed the crucial Standing Committee meeting on July 28 for the ninth time.
While Oli stood for calling the Secretariat meeting to resolve the differences, Prachanda said that it would be inappropriate to call the Secretariat meeting as the Standing Committee meeting that was put off on July 28 is yet to be over, My Republica newspaper reported.
“The meeting between the two top leaders of the NCP ended inconclusive as both the sides stood adamant in their demands,” the paper said.
Citing party insiders, the paper said that Prime Minister Oli wants the Secretariat meeting to resolve the key issues of intra-party dispute as he now commands a majority in the nine-member body after Vice Chairman Gautam stood in his favour.
Prachanda, who is backed by Madhav Nepal, believes that the Standing Committee could take decisions favourable to him as their faction commands a comfortable majority, the paper said.
Gautam had proposed that Oli be allowed to stay as prime minister for the remaining term of the House of Representatives (HoR), that is, two-and-a-half years, and chairman of the party until the unity general convention that Oli has proposed to hold by mid-December.