A meeting of opposition and two ruling parties decided to team up against the government on various issues and formed a three member task force to chart out the future strategy.

According to the leaders present in the meeting, contemporary political and other issues were discussed including the possible amendment in the Political Party Act-2107, the arrest of RSP chair Rabi Lamichhane, the government’s inaction after the recent floods and landslide, among other issues.

They also formed a three-member task force to chart out the future strategy of opposition parties. The meeting was called by CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal where two ruling party leaders—chairman of the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party Mahantha Thakur and chairperson of the Nagarik Unmukti Party Ranjita Shrestha—were also invited.

Both Thakur and Shrestha attended the meeting, complained about the working style of the government led by KP Oli of CPN-UML, but they later refused to send their representatives to the three-party taskforce, said the leaders of the two parties.

The meeting has formed a three-member committee to prepare the memorandum to the President Ramchandra Paudel, Speaker Devraj Ghimire and Prime Minister KP Oli, said Sishir Khanal of Rastriya Swatantra Party.

Khanal of the RSP, Shakti Basnet of the Maoist Centre and Rajendra Pandey of the CPN (Unified Socialist) are members of the task force mandated to prepare the text of the memorandum by Sunday. “We are planning to submit the memorandum on Monday,” said Khanal.

The meeting also decided to call for a special session of the House of Representatives and the task force is also mandated to prepare the paperwork for this request, said Khanal.

In the meeting, Unified Socialist chair Madhav Kumar Nepal expressed his suspicion that the government might introduce an amendment to the Political Party Act-2017, and urged the opposition leaders to stay vigilant. During the meeting, the opposition leaders had expressed concern that the government is preparing to introduce an ordinance aimed at splitting political parties.

In order to block the possible amendment to the Act, which is now defunct, the meeting decided to summon the special House session. The signatures of 25 percent of the total members of the House of Representatives is required for demanding such a session. The opposition parties have the number.

RSP deputy parliamentary leader Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, who attended the meeting, said they suspected Prime Minister Oli was planning to introduce an ordinance to split smaller parties, including those in the ruling coalition.

“We suspect he will use the ordinance to divide smaller parties, especially those against whom he holds grudges. He has done this before, and that was the main agenda of the meeting,” Shrestha told reporters after the discussion.

While Shrestha did not specify which smaller parties they feared could be targeted, the ruling coalition includes fringe parties like the Nagarik Unmukti Party, the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, and the Janata Samajbadi Party.

“Even with a two-thirds majority, he has previously run the government using ordinances. We are concerned whether he is trying to break these smaller parties in the government or even take action against newer parties like ours,” said Shrestha.

The opposition also plans to draw the attention of the government, the Speaker, and the President to this issue, according to Shrestha. “There was discussion on requesting a special session of parliament or approaching the President if the government continues to misuse power in an authoritarian manner,” he said.

The meeting, called by Dahal to discuss contemporary political issues, was attended by leaders from the RSP, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), the CPN (Unified Socialist), and other opposition groups. Leaders from the ruling coalition’s Loktantrik Samajbadi Party were also present.

The arrest of RSP chair and former deputy prime minister Lamichanne was also discussed in the meeting. Dahal informed that he learnt from Prime Minister Oli on Thursday that Lamichanne was going to be arrested soon.

“The state should not try to exact revenge and show prejudice against a particular person,” said Basnet after the meeting. During the meeting on Thursday, Oli told Dahal that legal action would be taken against those found guilty of various crimes, as per the law, and the government would act on the report submitted by the parliamentary committee.

Oli also defended his position of not forming a parliamentary committee to probe crisis-ridden cooperatives, according to Dahal.

“The parliamentary committee was formed when you [Dahal] were the prime minister. I was of the view that parliamentary committees should only deal with policy-related issues, not target a particular leader. You did not agree and took the lead to form the parliamentary committee. As you insisted, the committee was formed, it has given the report and as per its recommendation, the law will take its course,” Dahal said in the meeting, quoting Oli.

“Prime Minister Oli has made clear that as per the recommendation, the law will take its course and as a prime minister, he has nothing personal with Lamichhane.”

At present, dissident groups in various political parties have reportedly halted their plans to split their mother parties as there is a legal void in this connection.