May send 15 CC members to CA through PR

Kathmandu, April 29:

The CPN-UML continued discussion on the reasons behind party’s dismal performance in the Constituent Assembly election on third day of the party’s central committee meeting today.

Six leaders — Siddhilal Singh, Asthalaxmi Shakya, Bam Dev Gautam, Ishwor Pokharel, Modnath Prashrit and Bhim Rawal — aired their views on the political report tabled by acting general secretary Amrit Kumar Bohara.

“We are still dwelling on the factors that influenced the election and we have not touched upon the future course of action,” central committee member Raghuji Pant said at the end of today’s meeting.

Asked about his view, Gautam only said he had put forth certain suggestions to consolidate party’s base. Pokharel said the party faced defeat mainly because it had to compete with the Maoists who brandished weapons in public and influenced the election by terrorising the people.

“We also failed to come up with a strong plan to effectively mobilise our cadres to counter the Maoist threat. Local units were largely detached from the people,” he said, adding that the party now needs to wage ideological struggle with the Maoists to consolidate its base.

The party’s 18th central committee meeting that began on Sunday to assess reasons behind the election debacle and plot future strategies is also to finalise 70 names from within the party’s closed-list of candidates to be sent to the CA under the PR system.

“Acting general secretary Bohara is working on the closed-list by consulting the zonal in-charges concerned of the party,” a central committee member told this daily. The source added that 15 central members would be selected as the CA members. Rest of the candidates would be selected from different zones in proportion to the votes obtained by the respective zones. The Election Commission has directed the parties to submit their final lists by Friday.

Today’s session also condemned abduction of UML cadre Kedar Karki from Kulung VDC in Bhojpur by the Maoists and attack on the party’s district committee members today. The party asked the government to initiate action against the perpetrators and to provide medical treatment to the injured. The meeting will resume at the party headquarters tomorrow.