Kathmandu, April 1
Escalating the internal conflict in the CPN-UML further, the party’s chairman KP Sharma Oli has suspended two key leaders of the rival camp–Ghanashyam Bhusal and Surendra Pandey–for six months.
The move comes three days after Oli suspended two other leaders–Madhav Kumar Nepal and Bhim Rawal–for six months.
While suspending the two leaders earlier this week, Oli had asked Bhusal and Pandey to submit their clarifications. A week before that, a central committee meeting of the party boycotted by the rival leaders had decided to seek clarifications from the four, accusing them of acting against the party leadership and plotting a conspiracy for a split. Bhusal and Pandey had disobeyed the order then.
On March 12, Oli had removed leaders of the rival camp from party responsibilities. In response, the camp had organised a national cadres’ meeting and has been forming parallel committees in sister organisations and various districts.
On March 7, a verdict by the Supreme Court had revived the UML and the Maoist Centre by declaring the 2018 unification between them illegitimate. This decision had forced Nepal, who was preparing to split the NCP and form a party with the Maoist Centre’s Pushpa Kamal Dahal by removing Oli, to return to the UML controlled by him.
Many fear that the UML is heading towards a split.
