Standing committee members close to Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal have met at the party office in Dhumbarahi on Thursday despite the two chairmen on Wednesday postponing the meeting indefinitely.
Prime Minister (PM) and Chairman KP Sharma Oli and fellow Chairman Dahal on Wednesday had agreed to postpone the meeting for a few days on Oli's insistence.
"Most of the standing committee members who demanded a meeting have attended the meeting in Dhumbarahi," secretary of a standing committee member told Setopati on Thursday.
Twenty standing committee members including Bhim Rawal, Surendra Pandey, Matrika Yadav, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Ashta Lakshmi Shakya among others on April 22 had written to the two chairmen to convene standing committee meeting.
The secretariat meeting on May 2 had then decided to convene one on Thursday. But it was called off on Wednesday on Oli's insistence.
The secretariat meeting convened earlier on Wednesday to prepare proposal for the standing committee meeting ended inconclusively after PM Oli left it midway citing tiredness and did not return.
The responsibility for preparing the proposal was given to another Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Paudel. "They have not finished the proposal. The government is now focused on COVID-19. It is also time to present the government's policies and programs, and budget in the parliament," a secretariat member quoted PM Oli as saying at the start of secretariat meeting. "I have faced exertion. My body is aching, I will rest. You all continue," the secretariat member quoted Oli as saying before leaving the meeting.
The other leaders waited for him to return for a long time and ended the meeting inconclusively after he did not turn up. They urged Dahal to stay at Baluwatar and discuss with Oli about whether to convene the standing committee meeting on Thursday or not, and to decide the proposal to be presented to the meeting.
The meeting was postponed after Oli during the meeting with Dahal insisted that the meeting should be called off. A source close to Dahal claimed that he stressed on holding the meeting but had to relent after Oli did not budge.
Standing committee members close to Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal on Tuesday had decided to demand one person, one position during the standing committee meeting.
A decision to that regard was taken by a meeting of Dahal-Nepal faction held in Patan on Tuesday. The meeting also discussed about asking PM Oli's resignation.
The decision of the Dahal-Nepal faction comes in contrast to reports that the intra-party dispute in ruling CPN was resolved on Saturday through agreement between Oli and Dahal.
Dahal, who had vehemently criticized Oli and demanded his resignation during the secretariat meeting last Wednesday, made an about turn during the Saturday meeting without knowledge of senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal with whom Dahal had allied to oust Oli.
The fact that Oli has refused to hold standing committee meeting on Thursday and the leaders close to Dahal and Nepal have gathered at Dhumbarahi on Thursday hint that the reported truce between the two chairmen is not holding up.
