A crucial meeting of Nepal’s ruling communist party to decide the political future of embattled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was postponed until Monday to allow more time for the top leadership to iron out their differences over his autocratic style of functioning and anti-India statements.
The meeting of the Nepal Communist Party’s 45-member powerful Standing Committee was scheduled to be held on Saturday at 11 AM local time. But it was postponed at the last minute. Prime Minister’s press advisor Surya Thapa said the meeting was postponed until Monday as the top leaders of the NCP required more time to forge an understanding on the outstanding issues.
The meeting has been postponed as NCP chairpersons Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda were busy holding internal consultations amid the rift in the party.
“ The Standing Committee meeting has been postponed until on Monday as both the chairs needed time for further discussions,” said Bishnu Sapkota, the press advisor to Prachanda. The meeting was supposed to begin at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar to find a way out from the intra-party crisis which is dragging the ruling communist party close to a split.
During the meeting, majority of the party leaders were expected to demand Oli’s resignation from the post of Prime Minister accusing his government of failing to live up to the people’s expectations and responding effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many top leaders, including former prime minister Prachanda, have also slammed Oli for his anti-India remarks.
“ The Prime Minister’s remarks that India was conspiring to remove him was neither politically correct, nor diplomatically appropriate,” he said on June 30.