Faced with Increasingly Hostile Party Leaders, Oli Makes Last Ditch Effort To
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WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 64 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 33.7 C 5.7 C Wednesday, April 29, 2020 | 17-01-2077 Nepalgunj Jomsom Faced with increasingly hostile party leaders, Oli makes last ditch effort to retain his position Opponents, however, are firm in their opposition, leading Oli to warn his confidantes to prepare for consequences, including a party split. TIKA R PRADHAN & ANIL GIRI uled Secretariat meeting. But negotiations KATHMANDU, APRIL 28 collapsed, according to two Standing Committee members. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is in the Both chairs then agreed on calling the midst of a political quagmire from which it Secretariat meeting, which will decide the might be difficult to escape unscathed, as a date for a Standing Committee meeting. number of senior party leaders are likely to “Continuing with the status quo is not ask him to step down. going to resolve the ongoing crisis,” said In an attempt to buy some time, a Beduram Bhusal, a Standing Committee Secretariat meeting called for Tuesday was member who has close relations with Nepal. postponed, but insiders say Oli cannot avoid “There is no alternative to Oli’s removal. The holding the meeting on Wednesday. way his government has undermined the dem- Several rounds of tough ocratic process is a matter of negotiations on Monday and grave concern.” Tuesday failed to yield any Khanal, a former prime result and now there is no minister who has been eyeing option left for Oli, who is also Sheetal Niwas, is most likely a party chair, to face the to make the first move at POST PHOTO: KABIN ADHIKARI Secretariat on Wednesday. Wednesday’s Secretariat meet- People donning face masks as protection against coronavirus walk on a street that is covered in petals fallen from spring flowers near Bir Hospital in Kathmandu on Tuesday. Sensing imminent danger, ing to demand Oli’s resigna- Oli has been in close consulta- tion. tions with his confidantes to “Oli agreed to call the ensure a majority in the Secretariat meeting for Parliamentary Party. Of the Wednesday at the insistence 174 lawmakers from the Nepal of Dahal, who has already Unity of Madhesi parties could be hamstrung Communist Party (NCP), Oli, POST FILE PHOTO allied with Khanal to press for who is already in the minority KP Sharma Oli the meeting,” said Bhusal. in the nine-member According to party insiders, Secretariat and the 44-member Standing the Dahal and Nepal factions are united by a lack of coherence among their leaders Committee, has around 78 on his side--10 against Oli, even though Nepal has not made Members of Parliament short of a majority. up his mind about Dahal’s offer. On Monday, Oli made an all-out effort to On Tuesday evening, Oli had invited party Analysts are wary of welcoming the unification of the Rastriya Janata Party and the Sanghiya Samajbadi clinch a deal with senior leader Madhav lawmakers and his confidantes to Baluwatar Kumar Nepal, who now holds the key to Oli’s to discuss the ongoing situation in the party. Party as they see it as a reactive move rather than a unity born out of shared agendas. stay in power, with around 40 Members of According to a leader present at the meet- Parliament on his side. Oli has even offered ing, Oli told all participants that he was not directly elected lawmakers are Nepal the party chair, along with two chief going to give up and asked them to brace for ANALYSIS from Province 2, except for minister positions and ministerial portfolios any challenges that may come in the coming ment to a provision in the Political Baburam Bhattarai (Gorkha), for his confidantes, as long as he gets to con- days. “Prepare yourself for the worst case Party Act. Mohammad Ishtiyak Rai (Banke) tinue as prime minister. scenario, even a party split,” said the leader, The unified party is now called and Resham Chaudhary (Kailali). The way Oli, who once drove Nepal into a who spoke on condition of anonymity. the Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal And they share a majority of agen- corner, has been making concessions to According to lawmaker Bijay Subba, dur- and its leaders say they want to das, with amendments to the con- Nepal has left the Dahal faction with no ing the meeting which was also attended by turn it into a strong alternative stitution being the most important. option than to up the ante, according to Lekhraj Bhatta, a former Maoist and current political force. There are, however, Analysts say that the major chal- insiders from the Dahal camp. Dahal has minister, many lawmakers, including Tilak questions if a new party with the lenge the newly formed party faces offered Nepal the prime ministership. Mahat and Navaraj Silwal, told Oli that they same old faces can truly provide an will be to manage the egos of its Nepal, however, has not committed to any- would stand by him. alternative. leaders, which largely led to the one and is said to be weighing the options. “I called you to brief you about the situa- “This is a unity of compulsion past failures to unite. In a last ditch effort to find a middle path, tion and the possible consequences, so that because the government tried to Past mergers had largely failed Oli held a meeting with Dahal on Tuesday, you aren’t shocked later,” Subba quoted Oli as split both the parties,” said because of one leader—Upendra which led to the postponement of the sched- saying. “Be mentally prepared for anything.” Puranjan Acharya, a political ana- Yadav. Even within the Samajbadi POST PHOTO lyst. “If we look at the track record Party, leaders were not happy with The unified party is now called the Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal and its leaders say of the leaders in these parties, Yadav, which was why some law- they want to turn it into a strong alternative political force. there is enough evidence that they makers were quick to take Oli’s are to blame for destroying their bait to split the part y. ANIL GIRI announced their merger last week own political agendas.” The Samajbadi Party itself was KATHMANDU, APRIL 28 in dramatic fashion. While earlier Both Samajbadi Party and formed in May last year after a efforts at unity had failed, their Janata Party, with 17 and 16 seats merger between Yadav’s Sanghiya The third and fourth largest par- April 22 merger was prompted respectively in Parliament, have Samajbadi Forum and Baburam ties in Parliament, both with a by Prime Minister KP Sharma their vote base in the Madhes, espe- Bhattarai’s Naya Shakti. large base in the Madhes, Oli’s ordinance seeking an amend- cially the eastern half. Almost all >> Continued on page 5 As tourists stay home, homestays have no business The coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide lockdown could lead to a collapse of homestays that have provided communities with economic support and a sense of identity. ELISHA SHRESTHA can get back to business.” KATHMANDU, APRIL 28 In most areas, homestays are part of an economic chain, buying When the Visit Nepal 2020 tourism locally produced goods and farm campaign was first announced, products to serve tourists. A lack Dilli Maya Magar was excited. For of homestay business means a the past nine years, Magar has knock-on effect that ripples been operating a homestay in throughout the entire community. Dhankuta’s Namje village, hosting “We produce organic vegetables. both domestic and foreign tourists, We have a poultry farm and cows and she was hopeful that the Visit for milk,” said Magar. “I am afraid Nepal 2020 would boost an already that we won’t be able to compen- flourishing homestay industry in sate for our financial losses even the community. after the lockdown.” Namje’s 13 community According to Badal, the impact homestays were expecting around of Covid-19 on the homestay indus- 400 to 500 guests a month from try could affect around 40,000 people. March until May but then Covid-19 Dibya Shakya, who operates a began to spread. The government homestay in Nakabahal, Lalitpur, in Nepal responded by cancelling invested around Rs8 million in Visit Nepal 2020 and imposing a renovating his home to function nationwide lockdown that prohib- as a homestay and he’s afraid that ited all public movement. he won’t be able to recoup his “Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, POST FILE PHOTO investment. we are completely out of business Income in villages like Lamjung’s Ghale Gaun has dried up due to the slump. “Those who were planning to in the months that were supposed stay for longer periods of time to be our peak time,” Magar told ty-based lodgings where visitors of the Nepal Homestay Association, have returned to their countries the Post. reside with locals and take part in along with community-based and right now, only two out of Homestays are communi- the local culture. In recent years, homestays, there are more than 800 eight rooms are occupied,” said homestays have emerged private homestays in the country. Shakya. “Even if the lockdown as a popular means for Purna Bahadur Gurung, who ends, it will take a year or two to rural communities to hosts a homestay at Sirubari vil- recover from the financial loss shore up their local econo- lage in Syangja, was hoping to caused by the pandemic.” my while also preserving make good money during peak The pandemic and the ensuing and sharing their ethnic tourist season.