Revelation that Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli had met Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba at Baluwatar a day before he prorogued the House session on Thursday has caused ripples in ruling CPN.
CPN leaders now suspect that Oli, who has been cornered during the ongoing CPN standing committee meeting, proposed with Deuba to form a coalition government if ruling CPN were to split.
NC has officially stated that Oli invited Deuba to Baluwatar to discuss appointments in Constitutional bodies and NC Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma claimed the two did not discuss dispute within CPN. "So much so that PM did not even inform Deuba that he was proroguing the House session the next day," Sharma told Setopati about the Wednesday meeting. "There are many speculations and rumors in the market about the meeting of two leaders when the internal conflict in CPN has escalated but they only discussed about appointments in constitutional bodies."
He claimed that the main opposition party is not involved in the internal dispute of CPN. "Friends in CPN and our party should not link it with the internal dispute of CPN. They talked about issues related to the House including the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and bills about civil servants and others."
He added that Deuba expressed displeasure with the bills citing they were against the spirit of Constitution. Deputy General Secretary Prakash Sharan Mahat, a Deuba confidant, corroborated that.
"President has not said anything about that," Mahat said when asked whether Oli proposed cooperation in the coming days. "They probably did not talk about that. We will again ask with him today."
NC has called central committee meeting for Sunday to change schedule leading up to the party's 14th general convention. The meeting will also discuss the prorogation of House while some are also expected to ask Deuba about the meeting with Oli.
