NC’s 10th GENERAL CONVENTION
Party begins close-door session, statute amended

BY SUNIL K.C., NARAYAN UPADHYAY

Pokhara, Jan. 20: The 10th General Convention of the Nepali Congress has passed, by an overwhelming majority, the proposed amendments in the party’s statute at its first close door session today.

The most important amendment is the expansion of the Central Working Committee of the party from 31 to 37 with 50 per cent of the CWC members being elected by the General Convention through open and nation-wide voting. The remaining 50 per cent CWC members will be nominated by the party president.

Narahari Acharya, the party’s spokesman said at a press briefing today there are five other major changes in the new constitution of the party. Under the new provision, the terms of the party president and the party’s district president will be restricted to two consecutive terms only and each of the 205 parliamentary constituencies must elect at least one woman as the General Convention delegate.

Similarly, the new constitution has made it compulsory to have at least one dalit (lower caste) representation at every level of the party organisation - from ward to the parliamentary constituency. Similarly, a party coordination committee will be established at each of the five development regions with its coordinator to be nominated by the party’s president from among the CWC members. The member-secretary of the coordination committee will also be nominated by the party president from among the Mahasamiti members.

The sixth change is if one becomes the president of the party’s higher organisation, his/her tenure of presidency at the lower level will automatically be annulled. And also, if one becomes the member of the CWC, the member will no longer remain the member of the party’s district or regional body.

Meanwhile, the spokesman said the Convention has made some suggestions regarding these five amendments and they would be incorporated when the statute is given a final shape.

The four and a half-hour-long morning session was exclusively devoted to party statute and 31 out of 1,478 participants of the convention had taken part in the discussion.

According to Spokesman Acharya, CWC member Shailaja Acharya was the main advocate against the amendments of electing 50 per cent of the CWC members.

Rajendra Mani Lamichhane, a convention delegate from Kaski, said Ms. Acharya was still voicing her opposition till the last moment, but when party president Girija Prasad Koirala put it before the session, the floor endorsed it overwhelmingly by voice vote.

This is the first major amendment in the NC’s present constitution which was formulated at the party’s 7th Convention held in Baishak 25, 2017 B.S. in Kathmandu. There were some minor changes made at the party’s 8th convention at Kalbalgudi in 2048. Again, few changes were made in 2051 Falgun by the Mahasamiti meeting in Pokhara. In 2054, the Nepalgunj Mahasamiti meeting made further changes albeit minor ones.

The afternoon session of the convention today focussed on the party’s policy and programmes presented by the party’s General Secretary Sushil Koirala, the code of conduct and the party’s audit report.

In his report, the party’s General Secretary said NC’s long-term target would be the establishment of a prosperous society based on freedom, justice and equality.

The major objectives in the policy are: poverty eradication, creation of employment opportunities, qualitative and skill-oriented education, use of information technology, communication, health, rural self-reliance, agriculture revolution, utilization of forest, management of water resources, development of energy and tourism, formulation of effective industrial, commercial and taxation policy and empowerment of women.

To attain these objectives, the report has stressed on strengthening the local bodies and decentralisation of power, cooperative movement plans of good-governance, development of culture to respect labour, policy on population and environment and formation of an effective party organisation.

NC CWC ELECTIONS
Candidates file nominations

BY SUNIL K.C., NARAYAN UPADHYAY

Pokhara, Jan. 20: Contrary to expectations, Ramhari Joshi has again joined the fray, along with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, the incumbent Party President and Sher Bahadur Deuba, former Prime Minister and CWC member, for the party president of Nepali Congress.

It might be mentioned that Joshi had also stood for the party presidency in the party’s 9th General Convention in Kathmandu five years ago and had lost miserably. He had received only one vote.

According to Upendra Keshari Neupane, a member of the Election Committee, when the deadline for filing nomination ended at 5:30 P.M. today, there were 3 candidates for party presidency and 90 for the CWC. The number of aspirants joining the election bandwagon has far exceeded all previous expectations and the guess works.

Sujata Koirala was the first candidate to file her name and Mahendra Raya Tiwari filed his candidacy at the last minute. The Election Committee’s office saw a big rush with aspirants or their representatives practically jostling with each other.

With the start of the process for election, the whole atmosphere of the NC’s General Convention has been enlivened.

Practically, all the candidates have brought out pamphlets and appeals on why ‘they should be elected to the party’s highest decision-making body’. Several of them have even opened their contact offices. More than the over canvassing, it is the undercurrent which is most obvious and evident.

According to the Election Committee, the deadline for withdrawing names is 8:00 A.M. tomorrow morning.

The party spokesman said the final list of the candidate will probably be published by tomorrow afternoon. The election will be + held on Monday from 9:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. and the election results could be disclosed by late afternoon of the same day.

There will be about 1879 voters and each voter can choose upto 18 CWC members and one party president. The voting for the party president and the CWC members will be held simultaneously.

With the election result out the convention will be formally over. Meanwhile, party spokesman Acharya said there will be no mass meeting to conclude the convention.

For Party President

1. Girija Prasad Koirala, 2. Sher Bahadur Deuba, 3. Ramhari Joshi.

For CWC members

Sujata Koirala, Omkar Shrestha, Sukra Raj Sharma, Dr. Ramsharan Mahat, Arjun Narsing K.C., Sukra Raj Samyok ‘Limbu,’ Govinda Raj Joshi, Chakra Prasad Bastola, Damodar Gautam, Gopal Man Shrestha, Mahantha Thakur, Khum Bahadur Khadka, Baldev Sharma Majgainya, Surendra Chaudhary, Dhundi Raj Shastri, Sunil Bhandari, Taranath Ranabhat, Rajendra Kharel, Prakash Koirala, Manmohan Bhattarai, Mahesh Acharya, Surya Prasad Regmi, Basanta Gurung, Ananda Prasad Dhungana, Jit Tshering Lama, Lila Koirala, Bal Bahadur K.C., Bipin, Koirala, Rishikesh Gautam, Chiranjibi Wagle, Bimalendra Nidhi, Bhubhawani Bikram Nembang, Mayadevi Shrestha, Mohan Bahadur Basnet, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Ms. Ambika Basnet, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, Ramchandra Tiwari, Prakash Man Singh, Ramchandra Pokharel, Chandra Bhandari, Krishna Lal Sapkota, Adhitya Raj Gyanwali, N.P. Saud, Krishna Kumar Joshi, Ramchandra Poudel, Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta, Ramkrishna Tamrakar, Pushkar Nath Ojha, Formullah Monsoor, Shesh Nath Adhikary, Pradeep Giri, Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, Dr. Prakashsharan Mahat, Shiva Kumar Khadka, Sushil Koirala, Binay Dhoj Chand, Purna Bahadur Khadka, Padma Narayan Chaudhary, Bhim Bahadur Tamang, Amar Raj Kaini, Krishna Kishore Sharma Ghimire, Surya Bhakta Adhikary, Narahari Acharya, Bhakta Bahadur Shahi, Deepak Prakash Banskota, Ramesh Rijal, Arjun Jung Bahadur Shahi, Gopal Narayan Bhattachan, Kamal Chitrakar, Bal Bahadur Rai, Maheshwore Prasad Singh, Hom Nath Dahal, Laxmi Narayan Neupane, Uddhav Dhakal, Siddha Raj Ojha, Ang Gyalzen Sherpa, Bhagwat Gyanwali, Dr. Ram Prasad Gyanwali, Rabindra Lal Shretha, Trilokya Pratap Sen, Ms. Shailaja Acharya, Bidur Prasad Poudel, Bishnu Prasad Sharma, Meena Pandey, Durga Keshar Khanal, Ramesh Dayal Yadav, Rudra Prasad Shah, Mangal Prasad Gupta and Mahendra Raya Tiwari.

Code of Conduct amendment proposed

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Pokhara, Jan. 20: The proposed amendment on the code of conduct presented at the 10th General Convention of the Nepali Congress contain provisions for making special code for the high-ranking party officials which include MPs, CWC members and ministers.

Some of the suggestions made at the party’s convention include the formation of a Committee for Discipline and Code of Conduct and a provision for giving every party worker the right to report to the party’s Committee for Discipline and Code of Conduct against any member of the party holding a post of benefit with necessary proof and document.

The party’s regulation has already set of code which include yearly disclosure to the party the property and asset and their source by anyone holding power. The regulation also prohibits the party workers from gaining monetary and other benefits unduly and illegally, drinking in public places, induling in any kind of sexual and immoral activities and to observe austerity both in public and private life.

Polio drops administered

Pokhara, Jan. 20 (RSS): Minister of State for Health Tirtha Ram Dangol administered polio drops to a new-born baby at the maternity ward of the West Regional Hospital eight hours of its birth and initiated the National Immunisation Programme in Kaski district this morning.

A total of 55,212 children below five years of age in the district were administered oral polio plus vaccine today.

Altogether 277 health workers and 1,212 volunteers were mobilised at 300 immunisation centres in the district for this purpose, according to the district public health office.

Other report says, about 80 per cent of children under the age of five were administered polio drops by 3:30 p.m. today under the second phase Intensive National Immunization Programme, according to the child health division of the Department of Health Services.

Even after 3:00 p.m. people were visiting immunisation centres in large numbers to immunise their children against polio, the division said.

The government has set a target of administering polio drops to about 3.95 million children today.

As part of the immunisation programme health workers and volunteers visited door to door to make sure that no child in the target group is missed out.

Altogether 23,000 immunisation centres have been set up and 100,000 volunteers were mobilised throughout the country to make the immunisation programnme a success.

The child health division has thanked office bearers of all organisations, social workers, health workers and volunteers for their active cooperation in the immunisation programme and hoped that similar cooperation will be forthcoming in the future also.

Govt inefficient, blames Nepal

Kathmandu, Jan. 20 (RSS): CPN-UML General Secretary and leader of the main opposition party Madhav Kumar Nepal said we should keep aloof from jingoism and ultra nationalism, and choose the balanced road of true nationalism.

Speaking at a special gathering organised here today by the CPN-UML Rautahat-Kathmandu liaison committee, Mr Nepal accused the government’s incapacity and inefficiency for being responsible for the untoward incidents that took place in the country recently.

Public disenchantment against the present government has reached an explosive state and multi-party democracy has not been as popular as it should. The incidents were created by elements wishing to fish in muddy waters at a time when the public has become very sensitive due to statements from the ruling elite of India against the patriotic feelings of the Nepali people, he added.

Mr Nepal said that the CPN-UML has called for reform in the constitution after concluding that the existing anomalies and aberrations cannot be wiped out without making extensive improvements in the multiparty system which was restored in 1990.

Describing communal unity and goodwill as the basis of national unity and cordiality, Mr Nepal said the CPN-UML has assumed its responsibility at a time of crisis in the nationality of the country and will do so in the future too.

MP Ram Chandra Yadav said the CPN-UML carried out exemplary work in calming down the situation after the recent incident of riots and vandalism in the country.

Intellectual Govinda Bhatta, CPN-UML valley coordination committee secretary Krishna Gopal Shrestha, chairman of Bara-Kathmandu liaison forum Ramananda Chaudhary and other speakers also expressed their views on the occasion.