Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari has called an all-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss contemporary issues amid the political crisis that has gripped the country, with the ruling CPN-UML factions, including the one led by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, making last-ditch efforts to strike a deal to sustain the government, according to media reports on Tuesday.
Tika Dhakal, a senior communication expert at the Office of the President, said that President Bidya Devi Bhandari has called a meeting of leaders of all political parties represented in Parliament as well as former prime ministers to discuss contemporary politics, the Kathmandu Post reported.
The parties represented in the Nepal Parliament that will attend the meeting are Prime Minister Oli’s CPN-UML, Nepali Congress led by Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal, CPN-Maoist Centre led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”, Janata Samajbadi Party, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party, Rashtriya Janamorcha and Nepal Majdoor Lisa Party.
The meeting comes amid a political crisis triggered by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli’s dissolution of the House of Representatives in December. However, in a landmark ruling, the top court last month reinstated the lower house of Parliament.
K P Sharma Oli’s move led to the Prachanda-led CPN-MC to split from the ruling NCP.
Prominent leaders of the CPN-UML’s Nepal faction – Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal had also sided with Prachanda in seeking K P Sharma Oli’s resignation as Prime Minister.
To make the situation worse, the Supreme Court recently nullified CPN-MC”s merger with CPN-UML. The two parties had merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following the victory of their alliance in the 2017 general elections.
According to the report, K P Sharma Oli will face a crisis if the CPN-MC withdraws its support it had lent to the UML in 2018. Talks have also been going on among the Nepali Congress, Maoist and Samajbadi leaders to form a coalition government.
The all-party meeting by the President also comes at a time when the CPN-UML too appears to be headed for a split even though Madhav Kumar Nepal and Khanal returned to the UML fold after the Supreme Court’s decision, it said.