Kathmandu, May 18:

A three-member committee was formed today to investigate into the “lack of transparency” and the presence of “dictatorship” in the Kathmandu branch of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ).

Responding to an application filed by seven executive members of the branch, FNJ central committee decided to investigate into the causes of dispute among the executive members of the branch. The three-member committee will focus mainly on corruption, violation of the norms of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists and the tendency of undermining the voice of the majority in meetings of the executive committee.

Seven executive members of the FNJ Kathmandu Branch had locked the office yesterday and filed an application against president Yubraj Bidrohi, vice-president Kamal Gurung, treasurer Dhan Bahadur Magar and secretary Dinesh Basnet, demanding that persisting problems of the chapter be resolved.

Executive members of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists Balaram Baniya, Ramesh Bista and Surya Thapa will investigate into the goings-on in the Kathmandu branch and submit a report to the central committee of the FNJ in a week.

Talking to The Himalayan Times, FNJ general secretary Mahendra Bista said the committee will clear out a lot of controversies prevalent in the Kathmandu branch. “I believe they can be resolved in a week,” he said.

According to Bista, the dissidents have accused the branch president of acting on his own without seeking approval and agreement of the executive members, especially in organising programmes.

The branch president said he had tried to forge coordination among the executive members, Bista said.

“Both the parties will be present in course of the investigation,” Bista said, adding: “We will try our best to resolve the problems amicably.”

However, one of the dissident members told this daily that the investigation committee might go for holding a special general meeting and electing a new body anytime.

“We may go to the extent of selecting a new leadership as the existing one is mired in controversies,”the dissident member said.