Kathmandu, September 2

The central statute drafting committee formed by the Nepali Congress to revise the party statute in line with the country’s new federal set-up plans to submit the draft amendment to the party’s central working committee by October 1.

So far, the committee has held six meetings and has taken a number of decisions, including identification of bases for statute amendment and approving the panel’s procedures.

The committee’s Spokesperson Ramesh Lekhak said the party’s statute would be amended on the basis of provisions in the constitution related to the federal set-up and electoral constituencies, laws related to political parties, laws related to elections, and suggestions from various party bodies and sister and well-wishing organisations.

The committee plans to gather all the suggestions by Thursday, said Lekhak at a press conference today.

The committee has also formed three sub-panels related to the party’s structure, work division, and management of internal affairs and other bodies.

The sub-committee related to the party’s structure is led by Farmullah Mansoor and has Ananda Prasad Dhungana, Navindra Raj Joshi and Mahalakshmi Upadhyay ‘Dina’ as members. The sub-committee related to work division is headed by Minendra Rijal, while its members include Dilendra Prasad Badu, Sita Gurung and Madan Bahadur Amatya.

The sub-committee related to management of internal affairs and other bodies is being coordinated by Man Bahadur Bishwakarma and represented by Ramesh Lekhak, Pradip Paudel and Amar Singh Pun as members.  “These sub-committees have been asked to finalise preliminary drafts in their respective areas and submit them to the committee on September 8,” said Lekhak, adding that the sub-committees had already started work after holding their first meeting today.

Following the submission of the drafts, the committee will combine them and present to various party bodies for suggestions. For this, the committee plans to hold interactions in all seven provinces with various party units and sister and well-wishing organisations.

“After we collect all the suggestions for the preliminary draft, we will finalise the draft and submit it to the CWC by October 1 if things go as planned,” said Lekhak.

As per initial discussions, the party will have its units at the wards; rural municipalities, municipalities, sub-metropolis and metropolis; provincial electoral constituencies; federal electoral constituencies; districts; provinces; and the centre. Lekhak said suggestions were also coming for having committees at the booth-level.

After the CWC approves the draft amendment, it will table it in the Maha Samiti meeting slated for November 21 to 25 in Kathmandu.

One of the reasons the party has identified for its defeat in the provincial and parliamentary elections is failure to restructure the party organisation in line with the new federal set-up of the country and electoral constituency delineation.

Moreover, organisational restructuring is also required to hold the party’s next general convention on time. As per the existing statute provision, the general convention is held every four years, and the next jamboree is around 18 months away.

The statute drafting committee led by party General Secretary Purna Chandra Khadka initially had 11 members, including Rijal, Mansoor, Bishwakarma, Badu, ‘Dina’, Dhungana, Joshi, Gurung, Paudel, and Lekhak. However, it later decided to induct the party’s Lalitpur District Committee President Madan Bahadur Amatya and Rolpa District Committee President Amar Singh Pun, representing the party’s district committees. The party has also appointed Keshav Rijal as the committee’s member secretary.