Kathmandu, January 25
The main opposition Nepali Congress is holding its central committee meeting today to start preparations for the 13th general convention (March 3-6, 2016) that will elect the party’s new leadership.
The party has already designated election officers for all 75 districts for facilitating election of leadership at the district level. Today’s meeting will sort out the disputes related to active party membership and make other preparations for the GC. The CC meeting will make corrections in the list of active members collected from the districts.
Today’s meeting will also decide as to which generation will ultimately adopt the rule that bars anyone from holding district presidency of the party for more than two terms.
Eighteen NC district presidents have already held the posts for two terms. They will have no chance of landing the posts again.
Today’s meeting will also hold discussions on appointment of more office-bearers and increasing the size of the central committee. The Congress leadership is under tremendous pressure to increase the number of office-bearers, apart from increasing the quota for women and other disadvantaged groups. Because of this, the NC’s relatively small central committee is likely to turn into a 100-member-plus body. The NC leadership under Sushil Koirala and the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led faction are not on the same page on this issue.
The leadership is against increasing the number of office-bearers, whereas the Deuba faction is for increasing the number of joint general secretaries only.
The party also aims to sort out disputes related to division of responsibilities among office-bearers as per the provincial structure that the country has adopted. The party establishment wants the party to nominate office-bearers, whereas the Deuba faction is for electing them.
