Kathmandu, October 3
Top leaders of the Nepali Congress who do not belong to the Sher Bahadur Deuba camp have decided not to raise the issue of party leadership in the near future. However, they are in a mood to oppose any move to make the party chair more powerful.
This comes as the party is preparing to amend its statute. Discussion on the draft proposal prepared by General Secretary Purna Bahadur Khadka is to begin on Thursday. The Ram Chandra Paudel and Krishna Sitaula camps believe that party President Sher Bahadur Deuba might try to influence the process to cement his position in the party.
At a meeting of leaders of the party who are not aligned to Deuba, the Paudel camp proposed that members refrain from raising the issue of party leadership. “Sitaula camp members nodded when Paudel made this proposal. Prakash Man Singh and Arjun Narsingh KC also agreed,” a source present at the meeting told Onlinekhabar.
General Secretary Sashank Koirala has been canvassing support to challenge Deuba for the leadership. The decision by the two camps to not raise the issue of leadership is likely dampen Koirala’s prospects.
The meeting of the ‘non-Deuba group’ also agreed to present a common stance on the issue of statute amendment. The proposed amendment says that only the party chair shall be elected by the general convention and other office bearers shall be nominated by the president. The group, however, has agreed to lobby for a system under which all office bearers are elected.
