E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, DEC 31 -

Despite strong objection from senior leaders, CPN-UML has accorded KP Sharma Oli the third place in party hierarchy, after Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.

Standing Committee member Amrit Kumar Bohara, who is also the chief of the party’s Central Disciplinary Committee, registered a note of dissent against the decision to promote Oli to the third-highest rank.

In his note, Bohara has sought explanation for the promotion. Party sources said Bohara is backed by Vice-chairman Ashok Rai, General Secretary Ishwor Pokharel and Nepal. “He has raised some ethical concerns, which are genuine,” Pokharel said. A meeting of the party’s Standing Committee held at the UML headquarters in Balkhu took this decision, endorsing Khanal’s proposal of reinforcing party unity and managing the widening intra-party rift.

Oli, who was defeated by Khanal in the Butwal General Convention in 2009, previously ranked ninth in the party, after office bearers and Nepal.

The proposal should now be approved by the Politburo and the Central Committee. The opposition faction led by Nepal and Pokharel is mulling over opposing the decision at Politburo and CC meetings. However, Khanal’s efforts to offer the post of senior leader to Oli did not materialise owing to objection from the rival faction led by Nepal and General Secretary Ishwor Pokharel.

Some SC members including Nepal and Pokharel argued that Khanal’s proposal to honour Oli as a senior leader was against the spirit of the party’s statute, which mandates the leadership to respect the ex chief as a senior leader.

Immediately after the decision, Khanal and Oli attended a function organised by the UML Kathmandu District Committee and declared that the proposal had united all the leaders within the party. “It seems some people are losing sleep and appetite that UML would be united. UML will be united no matter what they lose,” Oli said at the function. At the function, Khanal claimed that the unity had paved the way for the UML to be the largest political force. Unsurprisingly, Nepal and Pokharel remained absent from the function.

Khanal’s political document has recommended, among other things, ways to divide responsibilities among party leaders based on their capacity and experience.

Posted on: 2011-12-31 11:18

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