KATHMANDU: Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has been removed as the Parliamentary leader of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) amid an internal turbulence within the Himalayan nation's ruling party that has triggered a fresh political crisis.
Oli was removed from the position following a meeting between Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, and Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The Dahal-Nepal faction has now appointed Prachanda as party's new parliamentary party leader generally considered as a contender for the top post in the Nepal government.
"Oli has made several mistakes... hence we were compelled to remove him from the party chair and parliamentary party leader," said Madhav Kumar Nepal while proposing Prachanda's name as parliamentary party leader. "If he admits his mistake and apologises, we can consider him to be welcomed again in the party," Nepal said. Earlier on Tuesday, a central committee meeting of the Dahal-Nepal faction of the party had expelled Oli as the party's chairperson while picking senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as its other chairperson.
Nepal had proposed Prachanda's name as party's Parliamentary leader.
Meanwhile, the Dahal-Nepal faction of the NCP has reached out to the Election Commission to claim that they hold a majority in the party and therefore should be given official recognition.
To challenge Oli, the rival faction led by former Prime Ministers Prachanda and Nepal on Tuesday forwarded a proposal to take disciplinary action against the PM and remove him from the post of party chairman.
The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is the ruling party in Nepal and it has had two serving chairmen already — Oli and Prachanda. After Nepal was picked as the next party chair, the ruling communist party has now three chairs.
Dispute inside the ruling party intensified after Oli dissolved the House of Representatives on Sunday.
A central committee meeting of the Prachanda's camp decided to remove Oli from the post after the ruling Communist party plunged into a crisis following Oli's decision to dissolve the House. (IANS)