An emergency meeting of the 10th national convention organising committee of the CPN-UML has entrusted its Standing Committee, formed on Friday, with the task of taking the necessary action against lawmakers close to senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.

The move appears to have been prompted by the possibility that the Nepal faction would cross the floor if a no-confidence motion is filed against Oli and vote for the motion.

“Opposition parties could bring a no-confidence motion and we have information that our own lawmakers are preparing to cross the floor,” said Pradeep Gyawali, spokesperson of the party. “Since the meeting of the organising committee cannot happen frequently we have given the responsibility to the Standing Committee.”

On Friday, a 19-member Standing Committee was formed that included four former leaders formerly from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Leaders close to Nepal were not appointed as members of the Standing Committee.

Even though there have been talks between the Nepali Congress, Maoist Centre and Janata Samajbadi Party of filing a no-confidence motion against Oli but no decision has been made largely because it is unclear whether Samajbadi Party will vote in support of such a motion.

It has been in talks with the ruling party to support it if the party’s demands are met and in case the Maoist Centre withdraws the support it had given the government formed in February 2018.

But if the Nepal faction votes in favour of the no-confidence motion, the government would topple.

“We are minutely studying their (Nepal faction leaders) activities,” Gyawali told the reporters following today’s meeting at Baluwatar.

Party insiders said they won’t let the lawmakers cross the floor by taking action against them before they cross the floor.

“What will be the use of taking action against the lawmakers after they created a mess,” said Sher Bahadur Tamang, secretary at the UML central office. “We are preparing to take disciplinary action against some of the lawmakers as the parliamentary party has all the right to take action against them and they have publicly spoken that the Karnali incident could repeat.”

On April 16, four members of the Provincial Assembly of UML from the Nepal faction of the party had crossed the floor to save Karnali Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, a leader of Maoist Centre.

The Nepal led faction, however, has been saying that they cannot be removed as lawmakers as they have not violated any legal provision as indicated in the existing constitution and the law to be liable for action.

Madhav Nepal and three other leaders, Bhim Rawal, Ghanashyam Bhusal and Surendra Pandey, however, have registered a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Thursday demanding the court to stop possible action against the lawmakers.

The writ is at the single bench of Justice Prakash Kumar Dhungana on Sunday.

Leaders of Nepali Congress have said that Nepal had urged its President Sher Bahadur Deuba to expedite the no-confidence motion before Oli takes action against them and therefore the main opposition has been discussing its prospects.