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WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 262 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 31.2 C -2.5 C Friday, November 20, 2020 | 05-08-2077 Bhairahawa Jumla How power struggle between two chairs has led the ruling party to a cul-de-sac The euphoria and triumphalism of the time of merger around three years ago seem to be dying, as the Nepal Communist Party struggles to keep its unity intact. TIKA R PRADHAN has obliquely demanded his resigna- KATHMANDU, NOV 19 tion, demanding his “sacrifice.” “This needs to be sorted out first,” That Nepal Communist Party chair said Oli. “If allegations are proven, KP Sharma Oli is all set to offer a the prime minister and party chair point-wise response to the political must resign. If they cannot be proven, document presented by the other then the accuser must take the respon- chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and that he sibility.” has declared all past agreements have Party insiders say those were hard been rendered null and void by Dahal’s words by Oli against Dahal. And this document, the ruling party now seems comes days after the party chairmen to have been in stuck in a cul-de-sac. engaged in a shouting match, making The party has scheduled the next personal attacks. Secretariat meeting for November 28 Even though leaders are saying the after Oli sought 10 days to prepare his leadership will come to an agreement, own political document. a realisation seems to have dawned At Wednesday’s meeting, Oli, how- upon them that the party is in a deep ever, countered allegations made by crisis. A split is not “if” but “when”, Dahal in his political document. many say. The full text of his response was “The basis of unity has ended,” said POST PHOTO: ELITE JOSHI published in the Gorkhapatra. Haribol Gajurel, a Standing People shop for Chhath Parva at Kalimati wholesale market in Kathmandu on Thursday. The festival is celebrated mainly in the central and eastern Tarai but also other parts of the country “The proposal, with a bunch of alle- Committee member. including Kathmandu Valley. People visit river banks and ponds to worship the setting and rising sun. The festival ends as devotees break their fast after sunrise on Saturday. gations levelled against me, has meant The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) all the past agreements and under- was born out of a merger between standings have ended,” reads Oli’s Oli’s CPN-UML and Dahal’s CPN statement. “Now with no previous (Maoist Centre) in May 2018. The two agreement in place, the party has communist forces had formed an alli- sought a new way out. We must find a ance for the 2017 elections. Buoyed by Oli came to power on nationalistic plank. But he new way out. I want to move ahead the massive mandate, both declared together, save the party and keep the unity and Oli became the prime minis- party unity intact.” ter leading the strongest government Oli, also the prime minister, also the country has seen in the last two seems to be failing to adhere to the hope he sold admitted that the party is at a crucial and a half decades or so. juncture. Oli said that the document >> Continued on page 2 Despite a strong government that could keep foreign meddling in the country at bay, observers feel that instability in the ruling party could go against the national interest. Goel, thereby having no institutional memory of such meetings. According to a senior Foreign Ministry official, the ministry is una- ware of the prime minister’s “unoffi- cial” meetings with foreign diplomats usually from India, China and the United States. “We get calls from the Prime Minister’s Office only for courtesy calls to the prime minister and for official meetings with foreign diplo- mats,” said the official on condition of anonymity because he feared retribu- tion. “Therefore, we are not aware of what transpires between our leaders and foreign diplomats during these meetings.” It was during Nepal’s political tran- sition between 2006 and 2015 that for- eign diplomats, especially Indian ones, used to frequently meet top lead- ers from across the political spectrum. It was in the context of such fre- quent meetings that Yadav, as foreign POST FILE PHOTO minister in 2008, introduced a diplo- KP Sharma Oli is known for raising his nationalistic rhetoric only to serve his political interests. matic code of conduct to check the activities of foreign diplomats includ- ANIL GIRI Dahal has presented a political docu- ing their meetings with political party KATHMANDU, NOV 19 ment lashing out at Oli for his “fail- leaders. But the code of conduct ure” to govern. remained largely unimplemented. At the end of April this year, Nepal The Secretariat meeting will be fol- The Oli government too is prepar- Communist Party chair and Prime lowed immediately by the party’s ing to reintroduce a new diplomatic Minister KP Sharma Oli was under 44-member Standing Committee meet- code of conduct, but it is yet to be pressure from within his party to ing on December 3 and the Central presented at the Cabinet. resign. Immediately, Chinese Committee meeting on December 10. “This mess is the result of our col- Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi met In all three committees the anti-Oli lective failure to adhere to the diplo- the President, the prime minister and faction is stronger. matic code of conduct. Our major top leaders of the ruling party. Hou’s latest meeting with Oli comes parties are responsible for it,” said Oli survived the demands for his after the prime minister met with Yadav. “We thought we would stand on scalp. Samant Kumar Goel, chief of India’s our own feet and make decisions inde- In July this year, calls for the prime external intelligence agency, Research pendently but, sadly, this is not hap- minister’s resignation resurfaced. & Analysis Wing, in the third week of pening.” Again, Hou got busy meeting President October. The Chinese Embassy in Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister When the political going gets tough Kathmandu has been publicly admit- Oli, party chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in Nepal, foreign “interest” increases ting meetings between Ambassador senior leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal significantly thus raising questions, Hou and ruling party leaders. In May, and Jhala Nath Khanal. among observers, why Nepali politi- according to the embassy, it was to Oli once again fended off his cians fail to stand on their feet and do extend China’s support in Nepal’s detractors. not remain united to stop foreign pow- fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. This time round Hou so far has just ers from coming into play. This time, it said Ambassador Hou met Oli. With still more than a week to Former foreign ministers, political met Prime Minister Oli to extend go before the Secretariat meets on leaders and diplomats have expressed Tihar greetings. November 28, the Chinese envoy still serious concerns over ‘overt’ activi- “The logic given by the Chinese has time to call on Oli’s opponents in ties of foreign diplomats and officials Embassy that the ambassador met the party. in Kathmandu and the way the Oli with the prime minister to extend In the latest episode of intra-party administration has paved the way for Tihar greetings is laughable,” said wrangling in the Nepal Communist them to express their interest in Ram Karki, a lawmaker and deputy Party, the situation could be said to be Nepali polity despite there being a chief of the foreign affairs depart- slightly more precarious for Oli. strong government voted into power ment of the ruling party. “I do not see on the basis of a nationalist any connection between Tihar and agenda. China.” “This is a sign of our failure in China’s supposed role in Nepali pol- handling foreign policy,” said itics has not gone down well with the Upendra Yadav, former deputy main opposition Nepali Congress prime minister and foreign min- either. ister who is also the leader of the “It does not look good for China to Janata Samajbadi Party. “Our take an interest in the dispute inside leaders have failed to conduct the ruling party,” said Nepali Congress diplomacy effectively.” leader Ram Sharan Mahat, who has What observers have found also served as foreign minister in the more intriguing is Foreign past. “An ambassador represents the Ministry officials were not invit- country, not a political party.” ed during Oli’s meeting with >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2020 | 02 NATIONAL Kathmandu city officials forcefully shift free meal distribution venue Only 20 percent people show up to get food at the new venue in Thapathali. ANUP OJHA teers say. But once the city forced POST PHOTO KATHMANDU, NOV 19 them to go to Thapathali, many disa- Young out-of-school girls from Maharajgunj Municipality in Kapilvastu district stand with the brand new bicycles distributed by the municipal office to encourage them to go to school. bled informal sector workers in the Maharajgunj, Krishnanagar and Bijayanagar municipal offices have presented free bicycles to 485 out-of-school girl children to promote girls’ education and improve their access to schools. Officials from Kathmandu inner part of Kathmandu can’t walk Metropolitan City had announced on up to Thapathali. November 4 that volunteers, who had “The city should have found an been providing free meals to the needy alternative venue near Khula Manch, at Khula Manch since March, won’t be but it didn’t,” said Four-year-old allowed to continue doing so.

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