Kathmandu, November 21:

Nepali Congress (Democratic) has entered a phase whereby a section of the central leaders is looking forward to a general convention, which is guided by consensus rather than competition among each other both at the local and the central level elections. This came forth during the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of the party which resumed at the party headquarters in Kathmandu today. The meeting ended inconclusively and will re-convene on Thursday. “We realise the need to have our senior leaders elected at all levels. But that does not mean we will not have any elections. Imagine we have the committees which have been formed to hold elections through the general convention,” said Acting President Gopal Man Shrestha.

Asked to shed light on the modus operandi, which will be adopted to ensure that senior leaders are elected at all levels, Shrestha, who is leading the party in the absence of its President Sher Bahadur Deuba, said much will be based on “understanding.” Sources said most of the senior leaders have suggested that the party should go by consensus rather than competition keeping in mind the nature of the outfit which itself was formed after a group walked away from the parent outfit, the Nepali Congress. “We feel the need for a consensus approach given the genesis of the party. That will ensure election of senior leaders, which will rule out groupism. In other words, we want unity,” NC-D leader Amar Raj Kaini told The Himalayan Times. Meanwhile, the party is also debating how best the alliance can cope with the situation whereby the rebels may go about campaigning for an election to a constituent assembly much before they are decommissioned under the UN auspices.