Nepal's three former Prime Ministers on Tuesday boycotted an all-party meeting called by President Bidya Devi Bhandari to discuss contemporary issues amid the political crisis that has gripped the country.
Former premiers Baburam Bhattarai, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal skipped the meeting called by President Bhandari at Shital
Niwas, questioning her role in the row of the erstwhile Nepal Communist Party (NCP), My Republica newspaper reported.
While both Khanal and Nepal belong to the rival faction of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (UML), Bhattarai heads the federal council of the Janata Samajbadi Party.
They have publicly alleged that President Bhandari had failed to act as a custodian of the Constitution, supporting even unconstitutional moves taken by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli who had dissolved the House of Representatives in December.
Tuesday's meeting was attended by Prime Minister Oli, CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda', Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, Chairman of Janata Samajbadi Party Mahanta Thakur, and former Chairman of Council of Minister Khil Raj Regmi.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the CPN (Maoist Center) parliamentary party picked Prachanda as its leader, said Devendra Poudel, a lawmaker belonging to the party. Oli was the parliamentary party leader when the NCP existed.
Dev Prasad Gurung has been named the CPN (Maoist Center) party's chief whip while Dinanath Sharma is the new leader of the party in \the National Assembly, the upper house of the bicameral federal parliament.
However, the party's parliamentary party has yet to designate the party's deputy parliamentary party leader and whip, the paper said.
The all-party meeting by the President came at a time when the CPN (UML) too appears to be headed for a split.
The CPN (UML) faction led by Madhav Nepal on Tuesday accused party Chairman and PM Oli of trying to divide the party.