No Proposal to Remove Oli from UML Leadership, Says Basnet
Dragon Media Correspondent
CPN-UML Secretary Mahesh Basnet has said that the party’s task force report on election review and organizational restructuring does not include any proposal to remove Chairman KP Sharma Oli from the leadership. Speaking to journalists after the task force meeting at the party’s central office in Chyasal on Sunday, Basnet maintained that the report neither calls for Oli’s resignation nor proposes his removal or criticism.
According to Basnet, Ram Bahadur Thapa “Badal,” Bishnu Poudel and Shankar Pokharel were assigned to prepare a consolidated report incorporating various drafts and recommendations submitted by 13 groups following the Balthali meeting. The task force subsequently discussed and revised their draft before unanimously approving a 29-page consensus report.
Basnet said the task force had agreed not to convene a special general convention or a special statute convention immediately. However, he acknowledged that leadership change could emerge as an issue during the party’s regular general convention and could not be prevented from being discussed. He added that provisions concerning the 70-year age limit, the two-term leadership restriction and previous decisions related to the party statute could be reviewed during a regular statute convention.
The task force also agreed to convene a meeting of the party’s National Representatives Council to strengthen organizational unity, Basnet said. According to him, the meeting would also discuss mobilizing protests against the current government, whose activities he characterized as “authoritarian, vindictive and anti-people.”
Basnet said recommendations received from the 13 groups would be incorporated into the report as annexes. The consensus report would be submitted to Sunday’s Secretariat meeting and presented to the Central Committee on Monday, he added. He also urged party members and the public not to be misled by speculation and claims circulating on social media regarding the task force’s conclusions.
