KATHMANDU, AUGUST 6

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has formed a committee to resolve the organisation’s annual general meeting (AGM) and election disputes.

A virtual meeting of FNCCI today decided to form a six-member panel to study and finalise the organisation’s AGM and election which have been delayed since months owing to the unfavourable circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The committee comprises industrialists DB Basnet, Arun Raj Sumargi, Binod Dhakal, Sunil Gopal Shrestha, Bharat Acharya and Ranjeet Acharya.

As per FNCCI, the committee will recommend the federation with an effective AGM and election modality amid the current COVID-19 crisis.

The committee has been given 15 days to recommend FNCCI with effective election and AGM modality.

As per FNCCI sources, the committee has also been asked to propose dates for the AGM and election.

“Holding the AGM and election is inevitable. However, FNCCI has not been able to hold the AGM since long owing to the coronavirus crisis,” said an FNCCI source, adding that the federation will take necessary decision on the AGM and election based on the recommendation of the committee.

FNCCI, the largest private sector representing body in the country, had initially planned to hold its 54th AGM on April 10 and 11. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic halted this plan and FNCCI had postponed the AGM plan indefinitely.

As the coronavirus and subsequent lockdown prolonged while the tenure of the current leadership at FNCCI had already been over, industrialists and FNCCI members started pressurising the FNCCI leadership to hold the election as soon as possible.

In June, the FNCCI announced it would hold its AGM on August 10 and 11. However, FNCCI again decided to postpone the AGM and election as the coronavirus continues to spread and the government still has restricted any sort of mass/public gathering.

Meanwhile, the leadership at the federation is still under high pressure to hold the AGM through any other effective means. The FNCCI leadership under President Bhawani Rana has been criticised for delaying the AGM and its members had been pressuring the leadership to announce the AGM date.

As per a provision in the FNCCI statute, the current Senior Vice-President of FNCCI, Shekhar Golchha, will become the new president automatically.

FNCCI’s Vice-Presidents — Chandra Dhakal and Kishore Pradhan — have officially declared that they will vie for the post of senior vice-president of FNCCI in the upcoming election.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 7, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.