Congress factions gear up for change in party leadership
Some youth leaders and rival factions of the Nepali Congress led by Ram Chandra Poudel and Krishna Prasad Sitaula have geared up for a leadership change by unseating party President Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Some youth leaders and rival factions of the Nepali Congress led by Ram Chandra Poudel and Krishna Prasad Sitaula have geared up for a leadership change by unseating party President Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Some Central Working Committee members have already demanded the general convention to sort the leadership issue while some youth leaders are preparing to press the demand at the ongoing CWC meeting of the party.
Deuba supporters said they face no threat despite the rival factions’ bid to oust him, blaming the party president for the NC’s debacle during the federal and provincial elections held in November-December last year.
The rival factions lack the sufficient numbers at the CWC and other party bodies to present the necessary proposal. According to the Congress statute, 25 percent CWC members can lodge a no-confidence motion against the party chief.
If such a proposal is tabled in the meeting, a general convention must be called within two months. Rival factions led by Poudel and Sitaula can collectively forward the
proposal. However, they lack the two-thirds majority necessary for removing Deuba, leaders said.
As intra-party rivalry becomes acute, Deuba plans to tighten his grip on the party, making it difficult to present any proposal against him. In the recent vote for the Parliamentary Party leader, Deuba defeated rival faction candidate Prakash Man Singh with more than double votes. Deuba also plans to appoint office bearers to the posts lying vacant for more than two years.
NC youth leader Gagan Thapa, however, has a different take on holding of the convention and leadership change. “We must start preparations for holding a general convention to adapt ourselves to the federal set-up,” he said, adding that the party was yet to reshape its organisation for the new local governments and the seven provinces.
“We should start the convention process from the grassroots level,” said Thapa, rejecting the rhetoric of removing the party president to elect a new one. “We need a general convention to end factionalism and the ongoing blame-game in the party after the poll debacle.”
He said youth leaders were planning to present their collective views on party rebuilding shortly. From Sunday, the CWC meeting started the process of reviewing the election results.
At the ongoing CWC meeting, leaders close to Sitaula and Poudel criticised Deuba for the poll debacle. They blamed Deuba’s “weak” leadership for the party’s electoral loss.
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