KATHMANDU: The politburo meeting of the ruling CPN-UML finally made corrections to its statute, political report and regulations, in line with the eighth general convention (GC) held in February last year, today. The GC had debated the party's stance on the UCPN-Maoist, which, it said, was still an "extremist left political outfit" despite its joining peaceful politics.

The GC had agreed that the party would adopt the policy of "partnership, struggle and transformation" with the Maoists. But when it came in the printed form, the policy was diluted as "unity, partnership and transformation" with the Maoists.

Politburo member Pradip Gyawali said the errors seen in the printed version of the party's political report presented by the then general secretary Jhala Nath Khanal had been corrected. A five-member task force was formed, headed by general secretary Ishwor Pokharel with Bishnu Poudel, Prithvi Subba Gurung, Beduram Bhusal and Ramchandra Jha as its members, to revise the report, party statute and its regulations as per the GC's spirit. The meeting made correction to Khanal's report on guiding principle of the party. It had adopted the People's Multi Party Democracy (PMPD), propounded by late general secretary Madan Kumar Bhandari way back in 1990, as an unchangeable guiding principle.

The revised version of the report says the party would "defend, implement and develop" the PMPD in the future. Khanal's report had, however, suggested that the PMPD would be "revised and reformed" in accordance with the changed political scenario of the country. Gyawali said the guiding principle could not be revised and reformed as suggested by Khanal. He said Khanal's version would not rightly define the PMPD and had only distorted its essence.

The party had been divided into two schools of thought about looking at the Jana Andolan II, 2006. Khanal had insisted that it was Jana Andolan, which ended as a complete revolution. But the Khanal version of the andolan was challenged by its arch rival KP Oli faction, which termed it as an "incomplete revolution". Today's politburo meeting endorsed it as an "incomplete revolution," arguing that much was needed to accomplish the goal of the revolution.

Gyawali said the politburo meeting also made correction to the Khanal report, which claimed that the "revolutionary forces had prevailed in the Constituent Assembly" with a sizable presence of the UCPN-Maoist in it.

"How can the revolutionary forces prevail in the CA when the general convention has termed the Maoists an extremist force," Gyawali said. He said there was a huge difference between a revolutionary force and an extreme left force.

He said the meeting also clarified some ambiguities over general and organised memberships of the party. Now onwards, the National Representative Council (NRC) would remain as the third most powerful body, after the central committee.

The GC would remain the supreme body with the NRC in the third hierarchy in the party's decision-making body. The meeting endorsed representation of members of the NRC in the zonal committee. The zonal committee would be able to appoint around 50 per cent of the total elected members to make it more functional.

The politburo meet gave one week's time to the five-member task force to settle disputes in Kathmandu district and Narayani zone. There are parallel bodies in Kathmandu and Narayani, one siding with Khanal faction and the other with Oli's.