The Koirala faction has accused Deuba of ignoring deserving candidates
KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 26
The faction of the Nepali Congress led by Shekhar Koirala announced protest programmes against the 'unilateral decision' of the party President Sher Bahadur Deuba regarding candidates to be elected under proportional representation election system.
The rival faction wants PR lists submitted by the party to the Election Commission amended to ensure that those who had worked hard for the party are included in the lists.
A meeting of the Koirala faction held here today announced a sit-in protest at the party office in Sanepa for one hour from 12:00 noon to 1:00pm on September 28, according to Gururaj Ghimire, who is close to Koirala. On September 29, the faction will hold a reception in the morning.
"If the party president does not amend PR lists to ensure just representation from all factions within the party, our faction will hold a meeting and decide on the next course of action,"
Ghimire said. He added that the establishment faction had included only a few leaders from other factions in the PR list.
Ghimire said if Deuba inducted leaders from other factions in a justifiable manner, the Koirala faction would get around 40 per cent seats. "Our concern is not about a particular percentage of candidates, but about ensuring justice in the selection of leaders in the PR list," Ghimire said.
He said it was Deuba who had established the culture of allotting 40 per cent seats to the rival faction in the party. Ghimire said the PR list should include leaders who could be deputed during the party's election campaign and could help party win a greater number of parliamentary seats.
"But unfortunately, the current PR list does not have those names who could help party increase its support base," Ghimire added.
The Koirala faction has accused Deuba of including names of his favourites in PR lists and denying a fair share to those opposed to him.
Koirala had lost party presidency to Deuba in the last national convention held in December.
Koirala and other leaders from his faction who are the party's office bearers were not present in the meeting.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 27, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
