CPN Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and senior leader Jhala Nath Khanal have taken exception to appointment of Sushil Bhatta as chief executive officer (CEO) of the Investment Board.
Dahal and Khanal opposed the appointment during the meeting with Prime Minister (PM) and CPN Chairman KP Sharma Oli at the PM's official residence in Baluwatar Tuesday evening pointing that the appointment was made without consultation in the party.
PM Oli in response argued that nobody should take exception to regular government work. The appointment of Bhatta by the Cabinet meeting on Monday has been widely criticized.
The meeting of four CPN leaders also including standing committee member Subash Chandra Nembang has failed to resolve the intra-party dispute even on Tuesday. The four have been meeting every day since Sunday but have yet to reach any conclusion. They will also meet on Wednesday.
Oli has proposed to convene secretariat meeting to resolve the intra-party dispute figuring that he has majority in the nine-strong secretariat after apparent volte-face by Vice-chairman Bam Dev Gautam or at least counting on Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa to remain neutral and not speak against him during secretariat meeting. Dahal and others have been calling for resumption of standing committee meeting due to their overwhelming majority there.
The two sides remained adamant on their respective stands even on Tuesday.
Dahal met Vice-chairman Gautam at the latter's residence in Bhainsepati earlier on Tuesday before the meeting of four leaders at Baluwatar.
Gautam had given a six-point advice to the warring chairmen that largely favors Oli to stop the internal dispute in the party last Tuesday. Oli had reached Gautam's residence later in the evening with wife Radhika Shakya and was joined by CPN General Secretary Bishnu Paudel in what Baluwatar source insisted was a family gathering.
Dahal seems to have visited Gautam on Tuesday to win back Gautam to ensure that Oli is again in minority even in the secretariat.
Gautam proposed that Oli should serve the full term as prime minister (PM), Oli also should remain chairman until the next general convention, and the general convention should be held in consensus. He proposed that Dahal should remain chairman with all the executive rights until the general convention.
The latest proposal appeared as another volte-face by Gautam who has been switching camps in the past few years. Oli had proposed to make Gautam the PM to break the alliance against him in April end when he was similarly in a tight spot.
But he later reneged on the promise and Gautam had returned back to the anti-Oli alliance. What prompted the latest change of heart in Gautam has yet to be known.
