The rival faction of the Nepal Communist Party on Sunday removed Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from the party amid a political unrest in the country following his decision to dissolve the Lower House of Parliament, reported ANI.
“Today’s Central Committee Meeting which conveyed at Paris Danda [party headquarters] decided to remove KP Sharma Oli from the party,” said Narayankaji Shrestha, spokesperson of the rival faction. “He no longer holds even a simple membership of the Nepal Communist Party.”
The move came after the rival faction led by former Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” and Madhav Kumar Nepal had sought an explanation from Oli as to why he should not be removed from the party for making unconstitutional decisions.
The splinted group had on January 15 handed over a letter to the prime minister’s residence to seek the clarification. “We waited for long,” said Shrestha. “He didn’t reply to us. Our latest decision comes in line by exercising the executive rights provided by the Central Committee of the party.”
On January 22, the rival faction had held a protest against Oli, saying the “unconstitutional dissolution” of the Parliament posed serious threats to Nepal’s hard-earned federal democratic republic system, according to PTI.
Last week, Prachanda had alleged that Oli’s decision served a blow to the Constitution as well as the democratic republic system which was established in the country through seven decades of struggle by the people. Madhav Nepal had claimed that the Constitution has not given rights to the prime minister to dissolve Parliament.
The rival faction had on December 22 removed Oli as the co-chairman of the party. Madhav Kumar Nepal had replaced him.
Nepal had plunged into a political crisis following Oli’s decision to dissolve Parliament and announce snap elections between April 30 and May 10. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari had ratified the proposal on December 20.
Soon after the announcement, the party split into two factions with each claiming its own to be the authentic one. Now, the Election Commission will decide which faction will retain the electoral symbol.
The decision to dissolve the House, an unprecedented move, was met with backlash as 12 petitions against it were filed in the country’s Supreme Court. A number of ministers had also resigned from Oli’s Cabinet.
Oli was reportedly under pressure to withdraw an ordinance related to the Constitutional Council Act that he had issued on December 15. The ordinance was endorsed by President Bhandari on the same day.
The House Speaker is one of the members in the Constitutional Council, headed by the prime minister, which makes recommendations for key appointments, including in constitutional bodies, judiciary and foreign missions. As per the provisions of the Act, five of the six members must be present for the meeting to convene.
The amendments introduced by Oli had sought to change this. As per the new provisions, the meeting does not require the presence of the Speaker and the leader of the Opposition party as a simple majority is a sufficient quorum.
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