CPN-UML leader Gokarna Bista has claimed that the internal dispute in the party will soon be resolved.
Speaking after the meeting of the task force formed for party unity at the Singha Durbar on Thursday, Bista who represents the Khanal-Nepal faction in the task force, said the dialogue was very positive. "I cannot say the time—it may be in the evening or tomorrow morning—but we will soon reach consensus," he stated.
The task force meeting ended deciding to again meet at the Finance Ministry in the evening.
"We have come out after sitting in the meeting for some time as we need to make different internal preparations. We will again meet at seven in the evening today," Subas Chandra Nembang, who represents Chairman KP Sharma Oli in the task force, said after the meeting. "We will make preparations to possibly reach conclusion today itself."
Oli and Senior Leader Madhav Kumar Nepal held discussion Wednesday night as the task force neared conclusion. But the meeting failed to yield any result with both the leaders standing firm on their positions and Oli particularly asking Nepal to unconditionally leave the opposition alliance against him without talking about the demand of the Khanal-Nepal faction of returning the party to the state before unification with CPN (Maoist Center).
Subas Chandra Nembang, Bishnu Paudel, Pradeep Gyawali, Bishnu Rimal and Shankar Pokahrel represent the faction of Chairman KP Sharma Oli in the task force while the dissident Khanal-Nepal faction is represented by Bhim Rawal, Ghanashyam Bhusal, Bista, Raghuji Panta and Surendra Pandey.
Oli has already instructed the party lawmakers who signed in support of making Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba PM to withdraw their signatures, and Oli has said those not withdrawing the signature cannot remain in UML.
The Khanal-Nepal faction, in response, has already said that the signatures will not be withdrawn at any cost.
A total of 26 UML House of Representatives (HoR) members had signed in the letter that Deuba submitted to President Bidya Devi Bhandari to stake claim for the government as per Article 76(5) of the Constitution. Most of those lawmakers have also signed in the petition submitted by Deuba in the Supreme Court (SC) demanding that he be made PM.
Oli has instructed to take back those signatures.
UML recently dissolved the organizing committee for the 10th general convention. Oli had unilaterally dissolved the central committee and formed the organizing committee after the Supreme Court (SC) invalidated the party's unification with CPN (Maoist Center) restoring the parties to the state before unification.
Oli has taken action against leaders of the Khanal-Nepal faction through the organizing committee even as the dissident faction has been demanding that the party be restored to the state before unification with Maoist Center.
Oli was under pressure to revive the central committee after the SC recently ruled that the organizing committee cannot take long-term decisions like the central committee. The dissident faction has boycotted the central committee meetings called by Oli after reviving it adding it will return to the fold only after reaching concrete agreement.
The task force has been meeting to resolve the dispute.
