Kathmandu, January 29
The Election Commission has clarified that it has not given legitimacy to either faction of the Nepal Communist Party.
Instead, it says no faction has approached the commission seeking legal recognition as the party. Stating the same reason, the commission had recently refused to acknowledge the party split.
However, both factions are still claiming that they are the legitimate sides. As the Commission held a meeting with leaders of the KP Sharma Oli-led faction on Friday, some of its leaders had claimed the constitutional body recognised the faction as the legitimate one. The other faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal had asked the commission to postpone the meeting as its chairpersons are not in the valley currently.
Election Commissioner Ishwari Prasad Paudel says the meeting with the Oli side could not be formal as the other side was not there.
“It is not that we have decided about the legitimacy,” he says, “Although there are two factions of the NCP, none has come to us demanding legitimacy.”
