Nepal Parliament houses prorogued; PM Oli may split party to retain office

In a big relief to Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Thursday (July 02) granted his approval to the government’s proposal to discontinue the ongoing Budget session without dissolving it.

The move comes after Oli held a Cabinet meeting held at his residence in Baluwatar to seek the President’s nod to prorogue the Parliamentary session. Many leaders from the ruling Nepal Communist Party had been demanding his registration after the Oli government’s redrawing of Nepal’s political map had backfired.

A few days after the PM steered a constitution amendment Bill to get parliamentary sanction for Nepal’s new map that includes three territories with India (Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura), Oli alleged that India and a section of the leaders in Kathmandu were plotting to eliminate him from power.

On Wednesday (July 01), as many as 31 of 44 standing committee members of the party, led by former Prime Minister and Nepal Communist Party co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, raised opposition to Oli’s continuation as PM after his remark against India and some Nepalese leaders, The Kathmandu Post reported.

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