Prachanda faction expels PM Oli from Nepal Communist Party's general membership

The Prachanda faction of the Nepal Communist Party has taken a disciplinary action against Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and removed him from the party's general membership.

A Standing Committee meeting of the faction held on Sunday decided to expel Oli from the party, its spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha told the media.

The dissident faction has alleged Oli breached the party discipline and is liable to expulsion from the party. It had earlier relieved him from the post of party Chairman.

The Nepal Communist Party, which has not split formally but has virtually fallen apart after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli unilaterally decided to dissolve the House of Representatives on December 20 without the party's consent.

Since then, the Nepal Communist Party is acting like two parties — one headed by Oli himself and the other led by former Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal. Both sides are running separate programmes across the country under the same banner as they await official recognition from the Election Commission.

The latest political development came two days after the NCP's splinter faction led a massive anti-government rally, saying the "unconstitutional" dissolution of the Parliament by Prime Minister Oli has posed serious threats to the country's hard-earned federal democratic republic system.

Prachanda last week said that by dissolving the House, Oli has given a blow to the Constitution as well as the democratic republic system which has been established in the country through seven decades of struggle by the people.

Madhav Nepal, who last month replaced Oli as the chairman of the party by Prachanda-led faction, said that the Constitution has not given rights to the prime minister to dissolve Parliament.

Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after Oli, known for his pro-China leanings, in a surprise move dissolved Parliament, amidst a tussle for power with Prachanda.

His move to dissolve the 275-member House, sparked protests from a large section of the NCP led by Prachanda, also a co-chair of the ruling party.

Oli, who is the chairperson of a faction of the NCP, has said he was forced to dissolve the House after knowing that the Prachanda-led faction was planning to file a no-confidence motion against him and introduce an impeachment motion against President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

Oli-led CPN-UML and Prachanda-led NCP (Maoist Centre) merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following the victory of their alliance in the 2017 general elections.

After a vertical split in the ruling party following the dissolution of the House, both the factions, one led by Oli and another led by Prachanda, have submitted separate applications at the Election Commission claiming that their faction is the genuine party and asked to provide them the election symbol of the party.

However, the Election Commission is yet to decide the matter.

In December, China sent a four-member high-level delegation to Nepal to prevent a split within the NCP.

The team - led by a Vice-minister of the Chinese Communist Party, Guo Yezhou - held separate meetings with several top NCP leaders before returning home without much success in its mission.

India has described Oli's sudden decision to dissolve Parliament and call for fresh elections as an "internal matter" that is for the country to decide as per its democratic processes.

(With inputs from agencies)