INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The PMremark that India is trying to unseat him only undermines the prestige of Nepali people and the Parliament
KATHMANDU, JUNE 28
Prime
Minister KP Sharma Oli, under pressure from Nepal Communist Party (NCP) leaders who want him to step down either as prime minister or party
co-chair, again played the nationalism card today to stay on in power.
The PM, who wishes to pin the blame for everything thatwrong
withNepal today on India, claimed that the Indian state apparatus was active to topple him from power for amending the constitution to
depict Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani in the countrymap.
But there were few takers for his assertioneven in his own party, NCP lawmaker
Ram Kumari Jhankrii said the PMremarks were aimed at diverting peopleattention from real issues
&The PM has failed in all respects.
He is making such remarks tomask his weaknesses and failures,& she said.
Addressing a programme
organised on the 69th birth anniversary of late Madan Kumar Bhandari, the PM said, &You must have heard from Indian media that I am going to
be unseated within a week or two
You must have heard the Indian intellectuals& debate about this
Indian state apparatus is surprisingly active,&the PM said.
He even said an embassy was also active against him
Though he did not name the embassy, there is little doubt who he was referring to.
The PM claimed that he was removed from power in 2016
when he signed trade and transit agreementswith China
&But if anybody is dreaming of removing me from power, then I must tell them that they will never succeed,& the PM said
In an apparent message to the leaders within his party who wanthim to give up either the PMpost or step down as the partyco-chair.
Though he
is clinging on to power and skipped the NCP Standing Committee meet on Friday fearing tough questions from party leaders, he claimed that he
had no desire to remain in power for long
He, however, added if he was removed from power, no subsequent prime minister would speak up in favour of the country
The PM said he was confident that neither his party nor NCP Parliamentary Party would seek to remove him from power.
Political analyst
Uddhab Pyakurel said the PM, who has been drawing flak for questionable handling of the COVID-19 crisis, had unnecessarily ranted up
&The PMremark that India is trying to unseat him only undermines the prestige of Nepali people and the Parliament
Nepalis voted the ruling NCP to power and the Parliament made him the PM
The NCP commands almost two-thirds majority in the Parliament
How can India make or topple NepalPM,& Pyakurel wondered.
He added that a sovereign PM should not make such irresponsible remarks.
He said,
&If the PM found any embassyactivities against diplomatic norms, then he should take action against that embassy
But will he do that?&
Jhankri added that had the PM acted honestly, work related to party unity and the partyGeneral Convention would have
&Had the PM mobilised party cadres well, we could have set up quarantine centres and isolation wards in each ward,& she argued.
A version of
this article appears in e-paper on June 29, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.
The post PM rants against India in bid to cling to power appeared
first on The Himalayan Times.
