KATHMANDU, JULY 11
A 10-member CPN-UML taskforce formed to reconcile differences between the establishment faction led by party Chair and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the rival faction led by senior leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal clinched a unity deal after discussing their concerns for 13 hours today.
All the taskforce members signed the 10-point agreement and asked the party to call a standing committee meeting to endorse the agreement.
UML Spokesperson Pradeep Kumar Gyawali read out the contents of the agreement to mediapersons at the meeting venue saying that they had agreed to revive all party committees and structures that existed before the UML's merger with the CPN-MC. The taskforce also agreed to implement the party's 17 May 2018 decision to nominate members in the central committee.
The agreement states that all party activities and decisions taken after March 7, when the Supreme Court reinstated the House of Representatives, will be nullified if they were against party unity.
In the case of those CPN-Maoist Centre leaders who defected to the CPN-UML in the aftermath of the dissolution of the HoR, the taskforce said leaders who were members of the central committee and standing committee of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) will be given the same responsibility in the CPN-UML. For other CPN-MC leaders, the taskforce said they would be given the same rank that they enjoyed in the NCP (NCP). The taskforce said the party would induct leaders and cadres who had contributed to the party's cause into the central committee, but such nominations would not be more than 10 per cent of the total number of the central committee.
The party said in the HoR dissolution case that was sub judice in the SC, and on the issue of the government, the party would proceed in accordance with the rule-based process. It did not elaborate the issue further. One hundred and forty-six members of the dissolved HoR, including 23 UML lawmakers, had signed the petition that challenged the dissolution of the HoR.
Earlier, Oli had told party leaders to withdraw their signatures from the petition or face action. He had also told them not to support Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba's bid for prime ministership and withdraw their signatures from his plea submitted at the President's Office on May 21 staking claim to form a new government under Article 76 (5). However, leaders of the rival faction had ignored his threat.
It was also decided to form another taskforce to settle differences at various levels between committees. The taskforce urged party rank and file to act with the spirit of unity in all party bodies. The taskforce has also urged the party to call its Standing Committee meeting to endorse the 10-point agreement.
The establishment faction had called a meeting of the standing committee at 4:00pm today, but the Madhav Kumar Nepal-Jhalanath Khanal faction leaders boycotted the meeting following which it was postponed till tomorrow. UML Headquarters Secretary Sher Bahadur Tamang said the party had called a central committee meeting on Tuesday with the objective of reviewing the SC verdict on the HoR dissolution case and taking other decisions related to the party organisation.
The constitutional bench of the apex court has listed the HoR dissolution case for final hearing tomorrow after petitioners and defendants ended their oral submissions. The SC is expected to pass its verdict in the HoR dissolution case tomorrow.
Taskforce members said the agreement would be presented to top leaders for their endorsement.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 12 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
