By Sampada A. Khatiwada
Kathmandu, Mar. 9: The Supreme Court’s verdict on Sunday to quash CPN-UML and NCP (Maoist Centre) merger by giving recognition to Rishi Ram Kattel’s party as Nepal Communist Party has drawn mixed reactions from politicians and others.
While the leaders close to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli have welcomed the Apex Court’s decision, the leaders of the Prachanda-Nepal faction have said that the verdict was made on a merely political issue.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali, who is also the spokesperson of the Oli-led Nepal Communist Party, said that the party had welcomed the SC’s verdict on the NCP name dispute.
“The verdict has opened ways for us to undertake an actual party unification. As both CPN-UML and NCP (Maoist Centre) have been sent back to their status as individual parties, an opportunity has been created for a merger in a legitimate manner,” said Gyawali.
Stating that the formerly unified NCP could not fulfill the objectives of the unification, minister Gyawali said, “Now, the door has opened for us to fulfill our goals by ensuring a real party unity.”
Likewise, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, spokesperson of the Prachanda-Nepal faction of the NCP, said, “We had not expected that the judiciary would order to not give recognition to the unified party.”
Shrestha added, “The SC ruling was inconsistent with the petitioner Kattel’s claim. The division bench gave the decision by entering into the issues that were irrelevant to the case.”
Kattel’s claim was limited to NCP’s name. He is not concerned with the unification of our party. Thus, the verdict passed by the Apex Court is against the constitution and laws and seems to be influenced by political interests.”
Meanwhile, Tikaram Bhattarai, former chairman of Nepal Bar Association (NBA), said that the SC verdict was contradictory to the verdict passed by the constitutional bench in the House of Representatives (HoR) dissolution case.
“The SC in its decision on HoR dissolution had recognised the status of NCP because it had accepted KP Sharma Oli as the Prime Minister,” said Bhattarai.
In the case, petitioner Rishi Ram Kattel’s claim was not to reinstate the united CPN-UML and NCP (Maoist Centre) to their individual status. The court’s order is beyond Kattel’s claim, Bhattarai added.