Faced with rebellion within the party, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, the chairman of the CPN-UML,  has taken several measures to bring back party dissidents. The aim is to avoid a vertical split--which now looks imminent-- in the party. 

Madhav Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal, the senior leaders of the CPN-UML, along with 22 lawmakers of the Oli’s party had joined the opposition’s anti-Oli alliance. The rebellion came after Oli removed the two senior leaders and 10 others from the party’s central committee, to consolidate his power. 

However, Oli seems to have now softened his position vis-a-vis rebels while the opposition alliance, headed by the leader of Nepali Congress’s Sher Bahadur Deuba, looks firm. 

In order to persuade the Nepal-Khanal faction, Oli’s party, in the last few days, reversed the suspension of the ten senior dissidents leaders, including Madhav Nepal and Khanal. Additionally, the party decided to revive the central committee that existed until 2018, prior to the merger of communist parties. The latter one has been the key demand of the rebel faction. 

The rebel faction, however, has termed the latest moves “inadequate” as well as too little too late. It says Oli is still reluctant to meet the demands they have been making since the Supreme Court invalidated the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and revived the UML and the Maoist Centre, reported The Kathmandu Post.  

Oli has called the meeting revived central committee on Friday. However, media reports say it is not yet clear if the Nepal-Khanal faction would attend the meet. They have earlier skipped the Wednesday meeting, where key decisions were taken to keep the party united. 

The country’s apex court has already once reinstated the House in February this year. The decision to dissolve the House for the second time, too, remained challenged in the court. In case, the court reinstates the House again, Oli’s chances of remaining in power looks bleak.

(SAM)