Nepal PM Oli likely to address nation today

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is likely to address the nation on Thursday as calls for his resignation from the posts of the prime minister and ruling party co-chair grew louder.

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is likely to address the nation on Thursday as calls for his resignation from the posts of the prime minister and ruling party co-chair grew louder. "Oli might address the nation today. Time is yet to be fixed but the preparation is being made. It will be decided on after the Cabinet meeting this noon," sources from the Prime Minister's Secretariat said.

Meanwhile, Oli went to Sheetal Niwas to meet President Bidhya Devi Bhandari today. Former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal faction in the ruling Nepal Communist Party has upped the ante against Oli.

The Dahal faction on Wednesday meeting held a meeting Jhamsikhel, which party leaders said was part of a bigger plan to chart out a strategy against Oli, Kathmandu Post reported. This is the first time that 31 out of a total of 44 Standing Committee members have stood against Oli.

The senior leaders, including co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal, and Bamdev Gautam, asked the Prime Minister to step down from the post citing his 'failure' over various issues. According to the Himalayan Times, the Standing Committee meeting of NCP held on Tuesday got heated up as Oli's recent controversial statements on India, among other things, was put on the table for discussion.

Khanal said that the Prime Minister promoted factional interests in the party and worked only to fulfill his personal interests. He said that Oli failed to bring sound policies and programs and followed capitalist policies in the past three years, ignoring the goals of socialism that his party was committed to. 

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