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| Kathmandu, Wednesday January 08, 2003 Paush 24, 2059. |
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UML not to tinker with general
secretarial system
By Ghanashyam Ojha
KATHMANDU, Jan 7 The Communist Party of
Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) today finally decided to make a go-ahead with
the general secretarial system, which will figure out in the party’s seventh general
convention for discussion.
The 33rd central committee meeting of the
CPN-UML today unanimously endorsed the party statute amendment paper tabled by Amrit Kumar
Bohara, chief of the party organisation committee. Bohara, in his paper, had proposed to
remove the position of the president, as it was meaningless following the demise of the
party’s oldest leader Man Mohan Adhikari, for whom the post was especially created.
UML also decided to get only the central
committee elected by the general convention, which comes in total contrast to the proposal
earlier put forward by leaders K P Oli and Bam Dev Gautam.
However, only Oli, a powerful leader in UML, put
his separate written paper in protest in today’s meeting. Oli stuck to his demand of
the presidential system in the party. He also proposed that the central committee members
including the president and general secretary should be elected from the general
convention, as a part of democratisation within the party.
But Oli’s paper was rejected by the meeting
as even Gautam, Mod Nath Prasrit, Bidhya Devi Bhandari, who were earlier supposed to have
sided with Oli, held themselves back.
Emerging out of the meeting, Oli curtly said
that his colleagues claimed that they were in majority, so I accepted my minority status.
"I was put in minority and my proposal could not be endorsed," Oli said.
"However, I will take my dissent proposal to the general convention and let it decide
on it."
Commenting on the recently endorsed amendment
paper, Iswor Pokharel, spokesperson of the UML Standing Committee, said that the paper has
basically focused more on the party disciplinary factor. "It has further empowered
the Central Disciplinary Inspection Committee and breach of party line will be seriously
counted," Pokharel said.
As per the new amendment paper, a member of the
disciplinary committee must have over 20 years of perpetual working experience. Even the
advisor of the committee should be over 55 years of age.
He also informed that the meeting decided not to
change the party flag, as was earlier proposed by some party leaders. Instead the party
decided to change its logo, which would have sun in the background instead of the existing
hammer and sickle, he said.
On UML’s views about the Maoists, the paper
has further stressed the need to bring them back to the mainstream politics through a
peaceful dialogue.
Page six of the paper mentions that it is the
identity of a true communist to fight through talks against any extreme leftist,
reactionary and escapist forces, which have emerged as threats to Nepal’s communist
revolution.
The paper has also termed a minimum working
experience of 15 years and 10 years in the party, to be a member of the party central
committee for males and females respectively. It comes in contrast of Oli’s paper,
which mentions only 10 years of experience for male and seven years for females for being
eligible to contest for the post.
Raghu Panta, a member of UML party secretariat,
told The Kathmandu Post that Oli did not withdraw his proposal, despite repeated requests.
"Even Bam Dev Gautam urged him to withdraw his proposal," Panta said.
"Putting dissent views is welcomed in our party. But I am hopeful that he will limit
his views only within the central committee meeting and make the party strong united in
future."
The general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal today
called upon all the party leaders to move unitedly, taking into consideration the current
complex national situation.
The amendment paper presented by Bohara will be
distributed among the party organised members within a week. The organised members will
later discuss on the paper, in the seventh general convention in Janakpur, scheduled for
February 1-5.
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