NCP co-chairs take jibes at each other

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, JUNE 24 The long-awaited Standing Committee meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) today began on an acrimonious note,
with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who had been avoiding the meeting for two months, taking potshots at the partyrival factions. Oli, who
co-chairs the party along with Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said his government had been performing well, but leaders of rival factions in the party
were acting as opposition leaders
He claimed that it was because of them that the message of the governmentgood work had not reached the public. According to NCP Standing
Committee member Mani Thapa, Oli claimed that the government was successful in checking the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, although the
number of people who had contracted the disease had crossed 10,000 with more than 600 people testing positive for COVID-19 today
He also claimed that the government had successfully spurred development activities, although businesses had come to standstill since the
lockdown was imposed in March-end. He added that certain foreign forces were miffed at the government for raising issues linked to
nationalism. On a conciliatory note, the PM said if his government had made any mistake in the course of governance, he was ready to accept
responsibility
He urged party leaders to act in the spirit of unity and defend the governmentperformance in the public. However, when Dahal got thechance
to speak, he also took a jibe at the PM, saying one leader should not take credit for all the good work done by the government ignoring the
contribution of other leaders of the party
He said the government had not been following the partydirectives. The ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) put off its Standing Committee
meeting today till Friday after Oli and Dahal put forth their views. The ruling partytop political body is scheduled to dwell on steps taken
by the government for prevention, control and treatment of coronavirus infection, border dispute with India, Millennium Challenge
Corporation compact and the citizenship bill, said party Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha. Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, Bamdev
Gautam, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Ishwar Pokhrel and Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa were also present in the meeting. A
version of this article appears in e-paper on June 25, 2020, of The Himalayan Times. The post NCP co-chairs take jibes at each other
appeared first on The Himalayan Times.