Kathmandu: The Election Commission of Nepal has refused to recognise either of the factions of the Nepal Communist Party -- one led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the other by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal -- as both have failed to follow the Political Parties Act-2017 and party statute.
The Nepal Communist Party has broken into two factions, one led by caretaker Prime Minister Oli and the other faction led by Dahal and Nepal, after the former dissolved Parliament in a sudden move last year. Both the factions filed an application in the Election Commission claiming authenticity along with the election emblem--the "Sun".
"Decisions made by both the parties didn't come in line with the party's statute. As the decisions don't fall in line, we can't update the details of the Nepal Communist Party. We have notified both chairman KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal about it, making them clear that the Commission will maintain existing details of the party," Spokesperson for Election Commission, Raj Kumar Shrestha, said.
The party broke into two factions on December 22, two days after Oli dissolved the lower house on 20th December, NCP-formed after a merger between then CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) in May 2018, Oli and Dahal became the chairs of the party, as per the statute.
The Kathmandu Post reported that the commission concluded that decisions taken by both sides failed to follow the provisions of the party statute that was submitted to the commission. The Election Commission decision means that even though the party has practically split, it continues to remain intact--technically and legally.
Oli expelled from party
Oli was expelled from the general membership of the Nepal Communist Party by the splinter faction led by 'Prachanda' on Sunday for alleged anti-party activities.
The decision was taken at the Standing Committee meeting of the faction of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) led by former prime ministers Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal after Oli failed to give an explanation to his recent anti-party moves as sought by party leadership, said Ganesh Shah, a senior standing committee member of the party.
Earlier in December, the splinter group had removed 68-year-old Oli, one of the two chairmen of the ruling party, as the co-chair. Madhav Nepal was named as the party's second chairman. Prachanda is the first chairman of the party.
The Prachanda-led faction on January 15 sought clarification from Oli alleging that he was carrying out activities that go against the party's policies. The faction decided to remove Oli even from the ordinary membership of the party after he chose not to furnish any clarification, party sources said.
Oli had been accused of violating party statute by the splinter group.
The latest political development came two days after the NCP's splinter faction led a massive anti-government rally, saying the "unconstitutional" dissolution of the Parliament by Prime Minister Oli has posed serious threats to the country's hard-earned federal democratic republic system.
Nepal political crisis
Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after Oli, known for his pro-China leanings, in a surprise move dissolved Parliament, amidst a tussle for power with Prachanda.
His move to dissolve the 275-member House sparked protests from a large section of the NCP led by Prachanda, also a co-chair of the ruling party.
Oli, who is the chairperson of a faction of the NCP, has said he was forced to dissolve the House after knowing that the Prachanda-led faction was planning to file a no-confidence motion against him and introduce an impeachment motion against President Bidya Devi Bhandari.
Prachanda last week said that by dissolving the House, Oli has given a blow to the Constitution as well as the democratic republic system which has been established in the country through seven decades of struggle by the people.
Madhav Nepal, who last month replaced Oli as the chairman of the party by Prachanda-led faction, said that the Constitution has not given rights to the prime minister to dissolve Parliament.
(With agencies)
