Expelled CPN-UML leader accuses Oli of patronising brokers, mafias

Kathmandu, May 25: Madhav Kumar Nepal, who was expelled from the ruling Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), on Tuesday accused Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli of patronising brokers, mafias and goons which made the party weak.
Nepal, a former prime minister, is among 11 lawmakers who were expelled by the CPN-UML on Monday for going against the party and supporting the Opposition alliance in its bid to topple the government led by Oli.
The expelled lawmakers will not even remain general members of the party.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Nepal said: “It is unfortunate to see the situation in which brokers, mafias and goons are encouraged but proletariats and ordinary Nepali people, in general, are left ignored even when a communist government is in place.”
“The activities and controversial aspects of the Oli-led government are crystal clear among us all. The CPN-UML was made weak when Oli became the patron of brokers. Mafias ruled over honest, committed and those who made sacrifices (for the cause of the party),” he said.Nepal said that they were expelled from the party when they raised these issues.
“We were attacked by KP Oli when we raised our voice against this,” he said.
Oli has always misused the government to fulfil personal thinking and selfishness, he alleged.
He also accused Oli of worsening the country’s coronavirus crisis.
He has urged all to get involved in the campaign to defeat Oli’s ambition to establish totalitarianism and autocratic rule and safeguard democracy in the country.
The move by prime minister Oli to expel 11 lawmakers is seen as the formal beginning of a split in the ruling party. A new party called CPN (Unified) has already been registered with the Election Commission by a student leader close to Madhav Nepal.
These lawmakers had provided their signatures to make Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba the new Prime Minister.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the 275-member House of Representatives on Saturday for the second time in five months and announced snap elections on November 12 and November 19 on the advice of Prime Minister Oli, heading a minority government.
She rejected the bids of both embattled Prime Minister Oli and the Opposition alliance’s claims to form a government. Oli and Opposition leader Deuba had staked separate claims to the premiership.
Oli claimed the support of 121 lawmakers from his party CPN-UML and 32 lawmakers of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) for his reappointment under Article 76(5) of the Constitution. Nepali Congress President Deuba claimed to have garnered the support of 149 lawmakers. (PTI)