Addressing the inaugural session of the party’s first-ever statute convention on Tuesday, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairperson and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal claimed that he would happily give up the party leadership if his “comrades” stake a claim.

Appealing to all his former colleagues, who are no longer with him, to come together, Dahal said, “If comrades claim the position with logic and facts, I am ready to hand it over. I am not interested in continuing to hold the position.”

Dahal made the appeal, arguing that those who fought the “people’s war” were being attacked like never before. Therefore, they jointly needed to fight back.

However, Dahal’s claim in the inaugural session that he was keen to hand over the leadership does not reflect in the party’s draft statute presented for discussion. The document envisions direct election of the party's local, provincial and central committees. But it says the central committee, not the party representatives, should have the authority to elect the office bearers. Most of the parties elect all the office bearers and the central working members directly at the general convention.

“The chairperson also didn’t sound positive about imposing age and term limits for office bearers. It could be because he still wants to command the party,” said a party leader. Some second rung leaders including deputy general secretaries Janardan Sharma and Barsha Man Pun are for imposing limits on age and tenures for office bearers. They are for allowing a maximum of two terms in one position. Sharma has submitted his own supplementary proposal countering some of the provisions in the draft statute. The proposal, which primarily talks about direct elections and age limits, is also being discussed in the convention.

Dahal has been leading the party for around 35 years and has just a few months to attain the age of 70. Presenting the draft dossier for discussions, Dahal, according to the leaders present in the meeting, said it would be very harsh to impose a two-term limit.

In his address, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the party’s senior vice-chairperson, had hinted that the party wouldn’t seek Dahal’s alternative. Stating that the party needed revamping, it would be done under Dahal’s leadership.

The three-day convention is scheduled to fix the party’s ideological course along with the size of different party committees and modalities to elect them. As many as 1,300 party representatives from across the country have gathered in Kathmandu to discuss the draft statute and endorse it—in the present form or with revisions—on Thursday.

A seven-member panel led by party vice-chair Pampha Bhusal had prepared the draft statute and presented it to the Standing Committee. General Secretary Dev Prasad Gurung, deputy general secretaries Giriraj Mani Pokharel, Barsha Man Pun and Janardan Sharma and secretaries Shah and Surendra Karki were members of the committee.

The party has formed 20 different groups, each comprising around 55 to 60 representatives. They have started discussing the draft statute and Sharma’s proposal. “The respective group leaders will present their conclusions after the discussions on Tuesday and Wednesday,” said Maheshwor Jung Gahatraj, one of the team leaders.

The draft statute proposes cutting the central committee’s strength from the existing 600 to 151. If the proposals are endorsed, the size of the politburo would be reduced to a third of the central committee while the Standing Committee would be a third of the politburo.

As per the draft statute, the chairperson would be the party supremo, but the Maoist Centre will also follow the principle of collective leadership. It envisions a senior vice-chair, vice-chair, general secretary, deputy general secretary, secretary and treasurer. However, it doesn’t specify their numbers. Led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the party currently has 15 office bearers.

If the statute gets endorsed, all party committees will have 49 percent representation of the marginalised and underprivileged communities. There is 45 percent reservation for such groups in the constitution.

The draft statute envisions 35 percent women representation in all party structures. Similarly, only those who have been with the party for 10 years can be general convention representatives.

The provincial committees will be 125-strong with nine office bearers while the district committees can have up to 99 members.

As the Maoist Centre general convention held in December 2021 was solely focused on selecting the party leadership, there was an agreement among the leaders to hold a separate convention to discuss and endorse the party statute.

The main opposition CPN-UML in October 2021 had finalised its statute through a statute convention and the general convention was held next month to elect the party leadership. The Maoist Centre has become the second party to embrace the practice. Voices are being raised in the Nepali Congress also for a separate statute convention, saying the electing party leadership becomes the entire focus of the general convention with little focus on discussing the party policies.