After third-term win, Oli calls on cadres to confront interim Nepal government

KATHMANDU(Nepal): After being elected for a third consecutive term as chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), KP Sharma Oli has called on his cadres to confront the interim government by force.

After taking the oath as party chairman for a third consecutive term following a nearly week-long mammoth general convention that formally ended on Thursday, Oli called for violence in his nearly hour-long victory speech.

Addressing newly elected office-bearers and central committee members, Oli urged his cadres and supporters to launch a decisive struggle against what he termed anti-democratic moves by the government.

“The leadership of CPN-UML is undeterred by the ill-campaigning and traps. The physical attacks being orchestrated and the cases being charged, that too on false allegations–such practices which were seen during the Panchayat period–are now being put forward through media trials; this can be true in the coming days. I want to tell you all, if the UML leadership is touched, the country will be pushed into crisis. This government should fall down; it will be brought down. For this, the CPN-UML should be in a ready position if the leadership is touched. If something would die in the world, then it must touch the CPN-UML and die. We should not only be ready in words but should prove it through preparations in action,” Oli said, as the hall echoed with applause while he made the statement calling for violence.

The deposed prime minister during the September uprising also alleged that UML leaders were facing physical attacks, fabricated cases and actions reminiscent of the Panchayat era.

Oli called for a strong nationwide response to any attack on the party, referring to calls for questioning over his role in suppressing the Gen-Z movement of September 8, which saw the deaths of 76 people across the country.

Oli narrowly escaped from his government residence in Baluwatar on September 9 when an angry mob stormed the complex, following which the Army evacuated him by helicopter after he had resigned.

The protest of September 8, held in defiance of a social media ban and corruption and led by youths known as Gen-Z, turned into a bloodbath after police opened fire on protesters who had marched to Parliament.

In Kathmandu alone, 23 protesters, mainly youths, were gunned down by police.

The next day, on September 9, violent mobs burnt private and public infrastructure, businesses and properties.

With investigations ongoing against the then police chief and heads of security agencies, Oli came to the defence of the use of force, brushing off the atrocities as an attempt to “give security to the federal parliament.”

“On September 9, why was there vandalism and arson? On September 8, the police had tried to give security to the federal parliament and that issue has been twisted now, and another attempt is being made to take the nation to a state of conflict. Because of the actions being taken against the police, the next day police were beaten, over twelve hundred weapons were looted, over one hundred thousand rounds of ammunition were looted, uniforms were torn off, all because of this. In order to not let these events recur, we need to be vigilant; the political parties need to be aware,” Oli said.

Postmortem reports of those killed in police firing in the Kathmandu Valley stated death due to bullet injuries to the head and chest.

During protests, police are only allowed to fire below the knee to control situations.

Police also used some lethal weapons to crack down on protesters, following which former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak stepped down from his post.

However, Oli remained adamant about not resigning despite mounting pressure.

Surrounded by supporters and cadres who had saved him after the Gen-Z protest, Oli accused certain forces of attempting to defame a party that has struggled for democracy throughout its history.

He also alleged that the current government was focused on conspiracies rather than holding elections.

Referring to the agreement with Gen-Z groups, Oli termed it a conspiracy and said the government was formed to conduct elections, not to amend the constitution.

He claimed the current government was incapable of holding elections and expressed confidence that the House of Representatives would be reinstated.

“This government will not hold the election. That’s why I trust that the honourable court, in this hour of national crisis, holds the key. The constitution hasn’t given another alternative. This government is unconstitutional and the parliament has been dissolved unconstitutionally. But they make big promises. We were betrayed on September 9; we weren’t prepared. Now the country is heading towards anarchy. We know it, we are prepared and we will stop it,” Oli said.

At the 11th General Convention of the Communist Party, Oli, who contested by forming a panel, won as many as 17 out of 19 office-bearer positions.
Only two office-bearers were elected from the panel led by Ishwar Pokharel.

Gokarna Bista was elected vice-chairperson, while Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai secured the post of deputy general secretary.

Among the elected office-bearers, Padma Kumari Aryal is the only woman, winning the post of secretary.
From the Pokharel panel, Binda Pandey lost the vice-chairperson race, while Rachana Khadka was defeated in the secretary contest.

All nine secretary positions were secured by candidates from the Oli panel, underlining its overwhelming dominance in the party’s new leadership structure. (ANI)