Nepal PM Oli expelled from Communist Party amid political unrest
1 min read 24 Jan 2021, 07:18 PM ISTTens of thousands of people protested in Nepal’s capital on Friday against the prime minister for dissolving Parliament and ordering new elections
PremiumAs the political crisis after the dissolution of the parliament in Nepal deepens, the caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was removed from ruling Nepal Communist Party by a Central Committee Meeting of the splinter group of the party on Sunday.
"His membership has been revoked," a spokesperson for the splinter group, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, told news agency ANI.
Rival faction of the Communist Party had earlier threatened to expel Oli from the party when they had taken to streets against his decision to dissolve the parliament and order a fresh election.
"We ousted Oli from the post of Chairman of ruling NCP. Now, we will take disciplinary actions against him as he is not fit to remain a member of the Communist Party and we have ordered him to provide clarifications. He has not replied to us till date," Madhav Kumar Nepal, a leader of the rival faction of NCP, had said.
He said that an order for "clarification" has been sent to Oli for the parliament dissolution. However, the caretaker PM had not responded to it.
Madhav Kumar had also ruled out any possibilities of unification with Oli even after he acknowledges his mistakes and corrects his latest move.
"No one should be under the impression that the NCP would bow down to KP Oli. It will never happen as we do politics on the basis of value and beliefs," he remarked.
Oli's decision
The parliament was dissolved on 20 December last year at the direction of the prime minister and new elections were announced for April 30 and May 10.
Oli became prime minister after his Nepal Communist Party won elections three years ago. Oli’s party and the party of former Maoist rebels had earlier merged to form a unified Communist Party.
Tensions, however, have grown between Oli and the leader of the former rebels, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is also co-chair of the party. The two had previously agreed that they would split the five-year prime minister’s term between them, but Oli has refused to allow Dahal to take over.
The opposition has also accused Oli’s government of corruption, and his administration has faced criticism over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
Oli also has been accused of moving closer to China and drifting away from Nepal’s traditional partner, India, since taking power.
