Patience & Restraint: PM Oli Addresses Nepal on Threat to Chair

The standing committee of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) has demanded Oli’s resignation.

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Shruti Mathur / The Quint)

Amid political turmoil in the country, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Friday, 10 July addressed the nation to say that the issues within the party are internal and will be resolved via dialogue with concerned leaders.

“Discussions,consultations and dissent in a political party are entirely internal and sometimes a regular phenomenon. These issues will be solved by the party and the concerned leaders through dialogue. Patience and restraint are required for it,” he said in a televised address, as quoted by ANI.

Oli’s address to the nation comes as he faces a threat to his position as the prime minister and the co-chair of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) after the party’s standing committee demanded Oli’s resignation from both the posts.

Oli, and his co-chair, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, who is representing the rival faction of the party, have had several one-on-one discussions in the past few days to diffuse tensions but none of them have so far proved to be fruitful. Even before the map row with India, Prachanda had demanded Oli’s resignation, citing the inability to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and governance failure.

Last week, the Nepal government also decided to prorogue the ongoing Budget Session.

Of the 41 standing committee members, 33 have demanded his resignation.