Nepal's fractious politics was once again in focus when a rival faction, led by former prime ministers sPushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Nepal, of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) expelled Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from the party. But the legality of the move remains doubtful as the country’s Election Commission refused to recognize either of the factions. 

A Standing Committee meeting of the faction held on Sunday decided to expel Oli from the party, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the spokesperson of the Dahal-Nepal faction, told the media. The move came after Oli failed to respond to a show-cause notice served to him on Monday last week by the rival faction. 

Both factions have filed their respective petitions in the Election Commission, claiming their factions as the original NCP. The commission on Sunday refused to grant legitimacy to either faction and maintained both Oli and Dahal remain co-chair of the party. 

“Details about the Nepal Communist Party could not be updated as decisions taken by both sides were not in line with the party’s statute, ” Raj Kumar Shrestha, the spokesperson of the Election Commission, was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post. Both factions failed to follow the Political Parties Act-2017, he added.

The split within the ruling party came out in the open when Oli recommended the dissolution of the lower house of parliament on 20 December last year. The move seemed a big blow to his party rival, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ who had been trying to remove Oli from the post of the prime minister for months.