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Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has postponed the party’s central committee meeting, yet again. Thursday’s move comes three days before the scheduled date for the meet. At a time of deepening dissatisfaction within the party over the leadership’s style of functioning in contravention of the party statute, this move is sure to rile the rival camp further. Deuba had postponed meets scheduled for Jan 6 and 12 also.

The party president does not want to hold the CC meet for a number of reasons. Firstly, Deuba fears he will come under criticism for failing to give continuity to the pre-poll ruling alliance. Before the 20 Nov elections, Deuba had thrown his weight behind the alliance, taking action against leaders and cadres opposing his scheme, without bothering to take the whole party into confidence.  

But the pre-poll ruling alliance fell like a house of cards for want of understanding between Deuba and CPN (Maoist Center) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal on the issue of premiership.

Initially, the largest party in the parliament (88 seats) had wanted to lead the government. This pushed Dahal to the CPN-UML camp. With support from UML and some other fringe parties, a coalition government took shape under Dahal. Though consigned to the opposition bench, the NC was forced to vote for the government in a trust vote in the parliament. Subsequently, the party has lost important positions like the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.  

All this has many CC members miffed. Deuba does not want to face their ire, with a vote for President round the bend. A CC meet will give rivals an opportunity to target Deuba, alienating Dahal further and causing more setbacks for NC. This leaves Deuba with little choice. 

The National Assembly is getting a Vice-Chairperson after a year. The election to the post of National Assembly Vice-Chairperson has been scheduled for February 6. During a meeting of the National Assembly today, Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina directed Bharat Raj Gautam, General Secretary at the federal Parliament Secretariat, to publish the election calendar. The tenure of Vice-Chairperson Shashikala Dahal had ended on March 4, 2022.

The hearing on a case related to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane's citizenship has concluded. The Constitutional bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki and Justices Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Anil Kumar Sinha concluded the hearing today. It has not been determined whether the bench will give its verdict on the case today or on another day. The hearing on the case was postponed for today after it could not be concluded on Wednesday. Earlier, the court had sought the relevant documents from the Department of Immigration, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the District Administration Office. It has been reported that all the documents and details have been presented before the court. It may be noted that Advocates Rabiraj Basaula, Yubaraj Poudel and others had filed a writ petition at the apex court posing questions over the eligibility of Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane, also the Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, as a member of Parliament. The writ petitioners have demanded cancellation of DPM Lamichhane's MP post arguing that he opened a political party and became a member of the House of Representatives without acquiring the Nepali citizenship.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting in Baluwatar on Thursday. During the meeting, they discussed contemporary political issues. A Baluatar source said that the duo discussed election of President and Vice-President, expansion of Cabinet in provinces and by-election of National Assembly among others. Kumar Dasaudi and Madhav Prasad Achaya of the UML and the Nepali Congress have filed their candidacies for the by-election of National Assembly respectively.