KATHMANDU: The central committee members of the ruling CPN-UML started debates on the political report presented by party president Jhala Nath Khanal in the third CC meet that kicked off yesterday.

A total of 23 CC members, including party vice-president Bamdev Gautam, standing committee member Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Raghubir Mahaseth, Bijaya Poudel, Ghanashyam Bhusal, Gorakh Bahadur Bogati, Thakur Gaire, Baijanath Chaudhary, Beduram Bhusal, Keshav Badal, Bhanubhakta Dhakal and Karna Thapa, aired views on Khanal's report. The report has analysed the current political scenario and the constitution drafting processes.

Commenting on the report, vice-president Gautam is learnt to have said that the report was comparatively balanced in diagnosing the country's woes. "But it has not been able to present a comprehensive roadmap for resolving them," a central committee member quoted Gautam as saying.

Gautam is all set to present his own separate political document insisting that a Maoist-included national government should be formed to write the new constitution on time and bring the peace process to a logical conclusion. He had tabled the same document in the recently-concluded politburo meeting, which had rejected it.

"The party did not take a right decision in reaching national consensus taking the Maoist into confidence," the CC member quoted Gautam as saying.

He has been saying that the peace and constitution drafting processes would not move ahead without roping in the Maoists in the government. Gautam was the Home Minister in the Prachanda-led coalition government that fell down on last May.

Standing committee member Bharat Mohan Adhikari is believed to have stressed that the UML should play a mediatory role to bring the Maoist and other parties, including the Nepali Congress, together to resolve the national crisis.

Bhanubhakta Dhakal, a central committee member loyal to K P Sharma Oli, criticised the High-Level Political Mechanism and said, "It does not have any constitutional and legal standing and was formed without comprehensive debates in the party." “It was harmful to drag the party in it,” Dhakal added.

Some of the CC members loyal to Khanal are believed to have criticized the UML senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal-led coalition government, which, they said, failed to maintain law and order and give relief to the people.

Those loyal to Oli and Nepal, however, accused the party leadership of not cooperating with the government led by its own leader. The meeting will continue tomorrow.