Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who had been under pressure from his detractors in the ruling Communist Party of Nepal to withdraw a controversial ordinance on Sunday morning, recommended the dissolution of Parliament. The recommendation was approved at an emergency cabinet meeting called by Prime Minister Oli on Sunday morning.
“Today’s cabinet meeting decided to recommend to the president to dissolve parliament,” Barshaman Pun, energy minister in Prime Minister Oli’s cabinet, said in Kathmandu after the meeting.
The surprise move comes at a time when Prime Minister Oli was under intense pressure from rival factions of the CPN led by former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known for his nom de guerre Prachanda and Madhav Nepal.
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Prime Minister Oli had met President Bidya Devi Bhandari last night at her official residence ‘Shital Niwas’, one of many meetings he held on Saturday while trying to convince rivals to back down.
The dissolution of parliament – he will continue to head the interim government – is seen as a precursor to a split in the party that had been pressuring him to withdraw an ordinance that his government had issued on Tuesday to give itself the power to make crucial team decisions.
On Wednesday, the party’s standing committee passed a resolution calling on Prime Minister Oli to withdraw the ordinance. He had agreed to comply at the committee meeting, but then had other ideas.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Oli drove to Prachanda’s home for yet another attempt to reconcile their differences and offered to withdraw the ordinance if the political document strongly criticizing him was also withdrawn. People familiar with the matter said Prime Minister Oli told Prachanda that they needed to work together and find a way out of the crisis. But Prachanda did not move.
PM Oli took the call shortly after. He is known to have probed the Interior Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, who appears to be close to Prachanda, and sought his support in dissolving the Chamber.
In his meeting with President Bhandari that continued until midnight, Nepal observers said Prime Minister Oli was advised against taking such a drastic measure. But Prime Minister Oli had made a decision.
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