In any party, the central committee is a bigger institution than an individual, and the general convention is a bigger institution than the central committee. It can be believed that the Congress dispute will be resolved based on this recognition. The commission will decide based on the legal facts available to both parties. However, since the date for direct candidacy registration has been set for 6 Magh, the issue of official status must be resolved before then.
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The voices of the special general convention and the stubbornness of President Sher Bahadur Deuba have turned the fear that the Congress would split into two into a reality. The strong questions raised within the Congress over the leadership's style of functioning and the tremors it has brought to the center of the debate on whether Nepal's overall political system should be governed by rules or by arbitrariness.
The Congress has suffered another major split after the former Central Working Committee meeting of the Congress expelled General Secretaries Gagan Kumar Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma and Joint General Secretary Farmullah Mansur on Wednesday.
In a democracy, competition between and within parties is inevitable, while party divisions are unpleasant in themselves. But the formula for organizing unity is method and status. Only unity that questions policy and leadership and ensures accountability is democratic. Seeing that this essential basis has begun to be lost, the general convention delegates have rebelled and elected a new leadership of the Congress from a special general convention.
This may not be a coincidence, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who split the party on his own initiative in 2059, failed to keep the party unified when he became the president in 2082. Deuba, who was handed over as acting president after announcing his departure from active politics after the Gen-G rebellion, returned to the 'Rajpath', moved towards proportional representation for the House of Representatives and continued to be as wilful as before in ticket distribution in the National Assembly elections. Not only that, action was taken against three office bearers of the Congress for rejecting the special general convention attended by the majority of the representatives.
Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma, who were elected as general secretaries from the party's 14th general convention, and joint general secretary Farmullah Mansur, have been banned from being ordinary members of the party for five years. On the other hand, the special general convention called at the initiative of the two general secretaries after 54 percent of the party's general convention delegates submitted their signatures has completed its 'course' in policy formulation and leadership selection. Now, the Election Commission has the responsibility and authority to recognize one of the two groups.
The issue of who will get the authority after a party split is complicated. But the Election Commission should be able to take a decision in a way that confirms the prevailing law, the statute of the party concerned, the basic principles of democracy, and public justification. It is a universal belief that the place where the majority stands is the official and legitimate place.
Similarly, in any party, the central committee is a bigger institution than an individual and the general convention is a bigger institution than the central committee. It can be believed that the Congress dispute will be resolved based on this assumption. The Commission will decide based on the legal facts available to both parties. However, since the date for direct candidacy registration is set for 6th Magh, the issue of official status should be resolved before that.
It is also the duty of the Commission to do this. The Election Commission should also consider the decision not just as a legal formality, but as a 'test case' of democratic culture. If the Commission does not give a decision on time, based on facts, and with publicly understandable arguments, unnecessary confusion will be added to the electoral process, which will increase suspicion on the constitutional institution.
The election program is moving forward according to the Commission's scheduled schedule. The parties have already submitted the closed list for the proportional representation. Since the candidacy registration for the direct candidacy will be on 6th Magh, no matter which of the two parties of the Congress gets official status, the other party will not be able to participate in the election. Because the date set for participating in the election was from 1st to 14th Mangsir.
That time has passed. Since the dispute within the Congress is only an internal matter of the party, it must be ensured that it does not affect the election program. Because, the only option is an election to bring the politics and constitution that have been disrupted after the Gen-G movement into harmony. Any disruption and division in this will harm the country. All parties should be sensitive to that.
Similarly, after taking separate paths, the challenge has come to prove their existence and legitimacy to both the old establishment and the now elected leadership. Both have the opportunity to excel, but it is also their responsibility to make the competition healthy and dignified. Both groups will have to establish a clear political roadmap, a transparent style of organization operation, and a lively dialogue with the people beyond accusations to show their legal and political legitimacy. Only if the competition born of division is diverted towards policy debate, institutional discipline, and leadership accountability, will it strengthen democracy.
