Nepal’s ruling party, the CPN-UML, headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, is likely to avert a split as Oli and the rebel faction, led by former prime minister Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal, are close to striking a deal.    

Earlier, the rebel faction openly sided with the opposition alliance and signed a petition, challenging the house dissolution decision by the government. 

 As a result, to save the party, a 10-member task force was constituted by the CPN-UML which is now close to ironing out all differences, The Himalayan Times said. Gokarna Bista, a member of the task force and close confidant of Madhav, said they may soon resolve all differences within days. 

The compromise members reached to is to revert all-party committees and structures that existed before the CPN-UML's merger with the CPN-MC in 2018. Earlier, Oli had ordered a wholesale revamp in the party structure to tighten his grip on the party and ousted rebel leaders. 

Oli, however, had asked rebel lawmakers, around 22 in numbers, who had supported Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba's bid for prime ministership, to withdraw their support and also to withdraw their petitions from the apex court. Both the demands were rejected by the rebel factions, saying the steps had been taken to save democracy and the Constitution.

If everything goes right, Oli and Madhav Nepal may also meet in the coming days. 

Significantly, the country’s supreme court is expected to announce a decision on the house dissolution case on 12 July. 

(SAM)