General Secretary Gagan Thapa has proposed a special general convention at the Congress Central Working Committee meeting. Thapa proposed a special general convention on 10-12 December in the meeting on Thursday after the establishment party, which has a majority in the working committee, did not support a general convention ahead of the House of Representatives elections.

Thapa had earlier proposed a schedule to hold the regular general convention from 16 to 19 Poush in the meeting on 18 Kartik. With a plan to reject it, the leaders of the establishment party had brought a 'counter' proposal to hold the general convention on 27-29 Baisakh on the same day through Joint General Secretary Mahendra Yadav.

Although the Central Working Committee can stop the regular general convention by a majority, there is no legal provision to stop it since 54 percent of the general convention representatives have already demanded a special general convention. Article 17 (2) of the statute has a mandatory provision that a special general convention must be called within three months if a special general convention is requested by the signatures of 40 percent of the general convention representatives. 54 percent of the general convention representatives have submitted a petition demanding a special general convention on 29 Asoj itself. 

The Congress Central Working Committee meeting has been going on since 28 Asoj. The sequence of speeches by all the office bearers and members in the meeting ended on Thursday. However, no decision has been taken as there was no consensus on the general convention issue. Acting President Purna Bahadur Khadka says that a decision will be made through discussion with all the leaders and parties. ‘Homework is being done to take a decision through consensus to avoid a divided mentality within the party,’ he says. 

After understanding everyone’s views in the Central Working Committee, I have come to the conclusion that a special general convention should be held: Gagan Thapa-General Secretary, Congress While the two general secretaries are not in agreement on the need for a general convention before the election, two different views have come from the establishment party. Seven former office bearers of the establishment party are in favor of not holding a general convention before the election, while another group is in favor of bringing a regular general convention schedule before the election.

Some leaders of the establishment party are preparing to make President Deuba active to bring a proposal for a general convention by consensus by reconciling the differences seen within the establishment party. According to an official, Deuba is returning from Singapore on Friday evening. “After he returns, the establishment party will form an opinion on whether to hold a general convention before the election or not, and whether to hold a special or regular one,” the official said. “Then, we will initiate a consensus by talking to the general secretaries who want a special general convention.” 

According to another leader from the establishment party, President Deuba wants a regular general convention instead of a special general convention. “The president is concerned that a special general convention could lead to division in the party. The proposal put forward by Ramesh Lekhakji to bring the agenda of the general convention within the first week of Poush has come with the support of the president. Due to the obstruction of seven former office bearers, that proposal could not move forward,” the leader said. 

General Secretary Thapa, however, has objected to the attempts to make the president active again. Thapa says that dragging the president, who has already left active politics, will only harm him. “The president did not just give him an acting president, but left active politics to hold a general convention. Let’s not try to make him active again now. We can, we will run it. The president now sits as a guardian, he sits as a former president. He sits as an outgoing president,' he said in the meeting. 

 While General Secretary Thapa is demanding a special general convention, another General Secretary Bishwaprakash Sharma has given the first priority to the regular general convention. He says that if the meeting does not decide in favor of a regular general convention, it will be mandatory to call a special general convention. Sharma said that if it cannot be done within 16-19 Poush as per the proposal made by General Secretary Thapa earlier, then a regular general convention can be held by mid-Poush. 'If there is no agreement on this too, there is an option for a special general convention,' he said. 

Seven former office bearers of the establishment party argue that holding a general convention before the election will affect the election. General Secretaries Thapa and Sharma say that it will not be possible to win the trust of the general voters if the general convention is not held before the election. ‘Rather than going to the election with a dormant party, a party that has risen from a convention and campaign will gain more strength,’ says Sharma. 

Another general secretary, Thapa, says that he is not confident that he will win the election without holding a general convention. ‘The election cannot be won by mobilizing only this line of the central working committee. The trust of the common citizen must be won. Trust must be instilled,’ he says, ‘Only the Congress that holds a general convention can take care of the country. Now, some people have been heard telling the president to come and protect him, instead of making decisions about the general convention. Those who are pulling the president are not the president’s well-wishers. Now we will take care of him. The president has left. We will hold a special general convention to replace him and bring in a new president.’

The establishment party has also presented the agenda for the restoration of the House of Representatives in the meeting. Some leaders are demanding that the option of restoring the House of Representatives be opened by getting the signatures of the then MPs. In the dissolved House of Representatives, Chief Whip Shyam Ghimire had demanded that the Central Working Committee include the rehabilitation agenda by obtaining the signatures of the then MPs. Out of 88 Congress MPs in the dissolved House of Representatives, 45 have signed in favor of rehabilitation. 

General Secretary Thapa, however, says that the party will not raise the issue of rehabilitation. ‘Now, let’s go to the elections, there is no point in doing anything left or right,’ he says, ‘There is room to question some of the government’s issues and priorities. However, we should also cooperate and question. We should not think of alternatives to elections. For this, the Congress should communicate with all parties, the Congress should do it.’

 Thapa was in favor of a regular general convention before the elections. But after understanding the views of everyone in the Central Working Committee, he says that he has come to the conclusion that a special general convention is needed. "When many friends said that it was not possible to hold a regular general convention immediately, I could not refuse it. If we cannot hold a regular general convention, let's decide to hold a special general convention on 27-28 Mangsir," Thapa said in the working committee meeting. 

There is no need to hold a session of the following committees for the special general convention. Since the representatives of the 14th general convention will participate, there will be no long process. Central member Ramesh Lekhak said that although there is a provision in the statute to call a special general convention, there is confusion as its process, procedures and jurisdiction are not clear. General Secretary Thapa, on the other hand, says that if there is confusion in the procedure, the special general convention can formulate the necessary procedures. 

General Secretary Thapa on Thursday denied the allegations against him that he did not fulfill his responsibilities for the general convention, that he worked together with the president before 23 Bhadra but tried to remove him suddenly after 24 Bhadra, and that he worked in a high-level political mechanism related to government operation and later became a protester. He also said that it was a mistake to accept the decision-making process of the party and the government according to the majority and minority principles. 

Thapa said that the trust of the common people in the Congress is being eroded as the party is trying to run it by focusing on power rather than principles. He warned that if there are no comprehensive reforms in the party and the leaders are not corrected, an incident like the one on 23 Bhadra will happen again. ‘We sometimes joined hands with the UML and sometimes with the Maoists for power. This was wrong,’ he said in the meeting, ‘Now we have to move forward by proving that the party is not based on power, but on principles.’ He said that he too will move forward after learning from past mistakes.

General Secretary Bishwaprakash Sharma has proposed a new formula for the stability of the government for a period of time after the election. A five-phase proposal has been made for that. He proposes that the first party to be formed on the basis of direct seats and popular votes in the general election will lead the government and form the government. He has proposed that the second, third or other parties should remain out of the government for the entire period of the election, and that in the event that the first party does not achieve a simple majority, the first party should obtain the insufficient seats from the names of experts submitted to the commission before the election according to the principle of 'winners take all'.

There is also a proposal that the list submitted to the Election Commission should be made public along with the qualifications of the person before the election, that the MP selected by the first party from the parliamentary party should become the Prime Minister as the leader of the parliamentary party, that the Council of Ministers should be formed in one phase, and that the Prime Minister should select the ministers based on the expertise of the concerned ministry. Sharma has proposed that the Prime Minister thus elected should take a vote of confidence in the Parliament within 10 days of the date of taking oath and that he should take a vote of confidence again within 30 days after completing two years. He proposes that the last time a vote of confidence should be taken, the vote of confidence will be decided only on the basis of certain indicators of two years of work, and that the Prime Minister should lead the country for the remaining period if the vote of confidence is regained.