In the end, as always, party chair KP Sharma Oli got what he wanted.

The CPN-UML’s statute convention concluded on Sunday, unanimously endorsing the proposal to remove the two-term limit and 70-year age bar to hold executive positions in the leadership as decided by the party’s recent central committee meeting.

The provision was pushed by 74-year-old Prime Minister Oli who is serving his second term as party chief and wants to get elected again.

The three-day convention endorsed the political report presented by Oli, statute amendment proposal tabled by Vice-chair Bishnu Paudel and organisation report presented by General Secretary Shankar Pokhrel. Other reports put forth by various department chiefs were also passed.

With the adoption of the reports by the statute convention, which is taken as the party’s supreme policy-formulation body, the party establishment led by Oli has entrenched its position for now.

However, the convention witnessed strong presence of supporters of former President Bidya Devi Bhandari despite the party’s decision to bar her from rejoining the party. Separate meetings of the party committees in July decided not to allow Bhandari, who was the party’s vice-chair before she became the country’s President in 2015, to reacquire party membership even though Bhandari claimed to have already renewed it.

At the convention, Oli didn’t allow the office bearers close to Bhandari to present their differing views on the party’s decision to bar her from rejoining. The establishment also didn’t allow standing committee member Karna Thapa to present his report at the convention. But party delegates took up the proposal in group discussions.

Thursday’s Secretariat meeting recalled that the Central Committee meeting held on July 21 and 22 had decided not to renew former President Bhandari’s party membership. Therefore, the matter needed to be discussed again at the Central Committee, and the convention. Although Senior Vice-chair Ishwar Pokhrel and Vice-chair Surendra Pandey held differing views, the secretariat meeting endorsed Oli’s proposal.

Despite that, Bhandari’s issue surfaced at the convention, according to a participant. After seven different reports were presented at the Statute Convention, delegates were divided into ten groups.

The participant claimed that, during group discussions on Saturday, those from the Sudurpaschim Province group stood in favour of Bhandari. Out of 49 delegates from Sudurpaschim participating in the debate, 48 spoke in favour of allowing former President Bhandari to return to active politics, the leader claimed.

Also, a majority of 82 delegates from Bagmati Province, who aired their views, spoke Bhandari’s favour. By contrast, among the 22 delegates from Madhes Province who presented their opinions, the majority emphasised local level issues.

The number of participants in group discussions was minimal in comparison to the convention representatives.

Among them, compared to the party’s ninth central committee, more delegates spoke in favour of allowing former President Bhandari to return to active politics and renew her party membership, according to members. In a recent central committee meeting, only about 10 percent of members had raised their voice in Bhandari’s support.

“At present, there are more female voters in the country than there are male voters. In such a situation, if an established woman leader is sidelined from the party, it will have to pay in the 2027 general elections,” a convention representative told the Post.

But party Chair Oli, addressing the closing ceremony of the statute convention, argued that Bhandari’s membership had not been revoked but was simply not renewed. “How can a party membership be renewed once it has been renounced in order to become President?” Oli remarked.

UML publicity department chief Rajendra Gautam, during the media briefing on Sunday, claimed that all 10 groups, in their reports, affirmed that there was no alternative to Oli as party chair for the immediate future.

“Leaders from all 10 groups suggested that the statute should clearly stipulate that not only former presidents and vice-presidents but also those appointed to constitutional positions also cannot return to the party,” Gautam said.

According to participants, the convention also witnessed debates over such issues as whether the party was either policy or leader centric and whether there was internal democracy.

Some delegates asked counter questions: whether speaking and acting contrary to the decision of the central committee amounted to a breach of party discipline? Why should those who criticise the leadership not face action?

Ushakiran Timilsina, a central committee member, said delegates actively debated the rationale for introducing and removing the age and term limits for party leadership. Some representatives questioned why the age limit was introduced in the first place and what were the reasons for its removal now, according to her.

The other side argued that because the leadership should be established through ideas, and an age bar was inappropriate.

UML General Secretary Pokhrel said that his party is guided by the People’s Multiparty Democracy (PMD), which was propounded by Madan Bhandari three decades ago.

Responding to questions raised by party leaders on the organisational proposal, Pokhrel tried to shoot down “baseless claims that the UML had abandoned PMD”.

“The party has neither abandoned nor intends to abandon its guiding principle, the People’s Multiparty Democracy. Therefore, I request everyone not to spread such rumours,” publicity department head Gautam quoted Pokhrel during the media briefing. “All our documents clearly state that we are guided by the PMD.”

Presenting his political report on the first day of the convention, Oli proposed “Socialism with Nepali characteristics”, introducing a new political concept to the party.

Some critics say this would be a kind of policy departure in the UML from the party’s core principle of PMD.

In his new document, Oli states that socialism with Nepali characteristics will make for a competitive, people-oriented, and transparent economic policy.

But leaders close to Oli on Sunday tried to clarify that the party would not abandon its earlier principle.

Political analysts argue that the concept of ‘Socialism with Nepali characteristics’, put forth by Oli, is influenced by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’.

They question if an imported model can fit the Nepali context.

“The ‘Socialism with Nepali characteristics’ floated by Oli may be similar to corporate socialism being promoted by East Asian countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos,” said political analyst Bhim Bhurtel.