When the Central Committee was under pressure to convene a meeting while the bribery ”deal” case was under investigation, President Shrestha gave Shiv Bastola the responsibility of Acting President.
What you should know
An internal dispute has flared up after Ranjita Shrestha, the president of Civil Liberation Party, who was embroiled in land embezzlement of litchi garden in Batulechaur, Pokhara, appointed Shiv Bastola as acting president. A meeting of majority party founders under the leadership of party patron and Resham Chaudhary has asked Shrestha for an explanation within 24 hours.
On Friday, the majority of central members gave a 24-hour 'ultimatum' to chairperson Shrestha, who was involved in the investigation of the Abuse of Authority Investigation Commission in the case of land embezzlement, to call a central committee meeting. Shrestha has appointed Bastola as acting president on Sunday, saying that until his health improves or other arrangements are made. "In this dire situation, according to clause 9 of Article 20 of our Civil Liberties Party's Constitution 2078, your senior leader Shiv Bastola has been appointed through this letter to take over the responsibility of the acting president of the party in my absence," she said in the letter given to Bastola.
Article 19 of the party constitution provides for the rights and duties of the president. In its sub-section 6, it is stated that 'to delegate the authority vested in him to other officials'. The leaders of the conservative Chaudhary side are arguing that the founding central member should be given the responsibility of acting. Shrestha party leaders are claiming that the president has the right to appoint the caretaker. Komal Gyawali, a founding central member who is in favor of President Shrestha, said, "It is within the jurisdiction of the President to decide who will be appointed as the caretaker." Bastola's name is not in the 21-member central committee, including the chairman, which was formed according to the statute submitted to the Election Commission when the constitution of civil immunity was established. Bastola said that he was nominated as a senior leader on 24 June 2008 in accordance with the provisions of the party's constitution to nominate three people as senior leaders. Article 20 of the statute has provisions regarding senior leaders.
After appointing Bastola as caretaker, the majority founder has decided to send a letter to Shrestha to submit an explanation within 24 hours on the issues of "activities harmful to the party, not calling a meeting, and keeping the party indecisive." Thirteen people were present in the meeting where it was decided to seek an explanation from the founder central member of Civil Immunity, Ramlal Dagaura Tharu. Ramlal Dagaura Tharu, Laxmankishore Chaudhary, Lalveer Chaudhary, Balveer Chaudhary, Lakshya Bahadur Chaudhary, Bina Tharu, Punna Bahadur Budha, Yogendra Ghising, Gangaram Chaudhary Dagaura, Vipatram Chaudhary, Alok Chaudhary and Oshinkumari Chaudhary were present in the meeting chaired by Damodar Pandit. The founding Central Committee of Civil Liberties has a chairman and 20 members.
Resham Chaudhary, the protector of civil liberties, said that the decision to appoint Bastola as acting president was not made by the Central Committee. The current Central Committee does not recognize Bastolaji. The central committee has asked for an explanation on the basis of the law on which he (Shreshta) gave the responsibility," he said.
The audio of a 'bribery deal' between the then federal affairs and general administration minister Rajkumar Gupta, intermediary Sujan Lama and civil liberties chairman Shrestha, who was also the minister of eastern land, to grab 134 ropani land in Batulechaur of Pokhara was released a few weeks ago. It has been confirmed by the forensic laboratory that the audio is intact. For further confirmation of the audio, the authority has also tested Shrestha's voice.
Although there has been a clash between the patron of the party Resham Chaudhary and his wife President Shrestha for a long time, one voice was heard regarding the dismissal of Minister Rameshwar Chaudhary by the Chief Minister of the Far West, Kamal Bahadur Shah. With the agreement of both of them, the party had decided to withdraw support from the union and state governments. Despite the decision to withdraw, the minister of state Arun Chaudhary is still in the union, while in the parliament, civil liberties are in the opposition.
In the past few days, the distance between Patron Chaudhary and President Shrestha had increased. Resham Chaudhary released a video message for Shrestha on Thursday, in which he said, "The current situation is not because of us, but because of you." However, we have tried to contact you. You must come to the central committee meeting. According to Krishna Sarvahari, who has been closely monitoring civil immunities, Chaudhary seems to have increased dialogue with Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in recent days. "From that, it seems that President Shrestha's heart has gone cold and the confrontation has returned to its old state," he says.
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'The President cannot appoint acting president at will'
- Resham Chaudhary, Guardian, Civil Liberties
President Ranjita Shrestha Why did President Shiv Bastola appoint acting president?
I got the information about the appointment of Bastolaji from social media. An explanation has been sought from Ranjitaji for appointing the caretaker without the decision of the party central committee. Bastolaji is absent from the 21-member founding central committee. You will know after Ranjita gives an explanation on this matter.
Hasn't the law given the president the right to appoint acting?
The president cannot appoint an arbitrator. It is written in the party constitution that the chairman cannot be arbitrary. The majority of the central members have rejected the issue of appointing an acting president without doing anything in the party.
Chairman Shrestha gave an answer in the party regarding the issue of lychee plantation land in Pokhara?
The president must answer within the party after allegations are made against him. He had to answer if he was innocent. If innocent, the party will also counter the accusations. Why did he get involved in this case? I had to answer. But he did not want to answer in the party. The majority central members asked to call the meeting. But the central committee meeting was not called. Why is it difficult to call a meeting and answer the accusations?
Will you take action against President Ranjita?
Party Disciplinary Commission is activated after the majority of the party disobeyed the request of the central member. The Party Disciplinary Commission will clarify this.
President Ranjita claims to have proceeded according to the party constitution, right?
How can disobeying the decision of the majority of the central committee and the parliamentary party be said according to the statute? The President is responsible for calling the Central Committee meeting. But not interested. Ranjita is my wife. A party is one thing, a religious wife is another. Party decision must be accepted by all. The Unmukti Party has come under fire after the party president was accused of serious charges.
Since Ranjita could not clarify his point, the leaders-activists have not been able to counter the allegations against the president. Unmukti Party Resham Choudhary was formed on Jell-Nail. It is a party formed from the sacrifice and struggle of the Tharu of western Nepal. On what basis did Ranjitha take the party to the edge of Fevatal (Acting President Bastola)? Must answer.
