Prime Minister (PM) and CPN Chairman KP Sharma Oli and fellow Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal discussed recent developments Thursday.
The two leaders talked for over an hour at the PM's official residence in Baluwatar, according to PM's press advisor Surya Thapa.
The intra-party dispute in ruling CPN has intensified further after PM Oli brought ordinances making splitting of parties easier, and taking decision in the Constitutional Council through majority on Monday.
Twenty standing committee members have already written to the two chairmen to call standing committee meeting as per the party statute. They have called the ordinances unnecessary and wrong and demanded they be discussed in the standing committee.
PM Oli, meanwhile, has stopped his briefing to federal CPN lawmakers. He and Dahal had met lawmakers from the Far West, Bagmati and Province 1 on Wednesday.
Press advisor Thapa said the briefing has been stopped as PM has to hold internal discussions, and added that the briefing will be held another day.
The Cabinet meeting at Baluwatar Monday had passed an ordinance allowing splitting of a party with support of 40 percent in either the parliamentary party or the central committee. The act about political parties requires support of 40 percent in both the parliamentary party and the central committee to split any political party.
The ordinance was brought as differences between the two chairmen of ruling CPN have been exacerbating in recent times. There have been rumors that preparations are on to replace PM Oli with senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, and handing over the party responsibilities to executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
The differences between Chairman Oli and the faction of Dahal and Nepal intensified on the issue of speaker election and taking Bam Dev Gautam to the National Assembly.
The faction of Dahal and Nepal has clear majority in the secretariat, standing committee, central committee and parliamentary party. Oli will have support of over 40 percent only in the parliamentary party.
The ordinance has been brought to pave the way for Oli to split ruling CPN with support of 40 percent in the parliamentary party if Dahal and Nepal decide to remove him.
Oli also brought another ordinance about majority decision in the Constitutional Council on Monday. The other ordinance states that the Constitutional Council can take decisions on the basis of majority. The six-strong council currently only has five members in lack of election for deputy speaker. The amendment means that the council can take decisions with support of three and even in absence of the main opposition leader and Speaker Agni Sapkota who is in Dahal faction.
It is understood that Oli has brought this ordinance to appoint his men in the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to ensure that he can threaten to lodge corruption case against the opponents both within the party and outside.
