The race to select delegates for the 11th UML general convention has begun. The schedule for selecting delegates is till Sunday. As there is a definite competition between the leadership selection factions of Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Senior Vice President Ishwor Pokharel, both the factions are busy with their homework in selecting their delegates.

Since 1,135 representatives need to be selected from geography, mechanisms have been mobilized in all districts. The rest will be selected from the central committee, departments, and special committees. UML Publicity Department Chief Rajendra Gautam said that the selection of representatives is being carried out with enthusiasm.

‘Unanimous as much as possible, otherwise through competition

Since there will be competition between the establishment and Pokharel factions, the calculation of the selection of representatives has begun. Ahead of the 11th National Convention to be held in Kathmandu on 27-29 Mangsir, a huge tug-of-war has been seen in the process of selecting representatives in the eastern districts. 226 representatives, including 117 open candidates, 64 women, 29 youth under 40 years of age, and 16 Dalits, are being selected from 14 districts of Koshi.

More than double the number of candidates have been registered for these posts. In Morang, where Oli and other groups have a strong hold, internal competition has become very intense after more than three times the number of candidates have been registered.

145 candidates have filed their candidacies for the 46 representative seats to be elected from Morang. In Jhapa, 17 are open, 12 are women, 5 are youths under 40 years of age and 2 are Dalits.

Ishwor Pokharel is also from Jhapa. In Ilam, 20 candidates will be selected, including 11 open, 6 women, 2 youths and 1 Dalit. Efforts are also underway in Panchthar. There, 4 are open, 2 women and 1 youth and Dalit. In Taplejung, Yogesh Bhattarai's home district, 12 candidates will be selected, including 6 open, 4 women and 1 youth and Dalit.

51 candidates have registered their candidacies for 14 representatives in Udayapur. With more than double the number of candidates for 7 open, 4 women, 2 youths and 1 Dalit in 2 constituencies and 1 Dalit constituency, the competition is heating up there too. In Sunsari, 25 people will be selected, including 13 open, 7 women, 4 youth and 1 Dalit.

Despite the efforts to 'select representatives by consensus' in Dhankuta, the activeness seen in the candidacy process has increased the possibility of being selected through the voting process. In Dhankuta, which has more than 8,000 party members, 13 representatives will be selected, including 7 open, 4 women, 1 youth and 1 Dalit. In Tehrathum, 2 open, 4 women and 1 youth will be selected. In Sankhuwasabha, 31 candidates have filed for 7 representatives. 31 candidates have filed for 7 representatives, including 3 open, 2 women, 1 youth and 1 Dalit.

In Khotang, 5 open, 3 women and 1 Dalit and 1 youth, 10, in Bhojpur, 4 open, 2 women and 1 youth and 1 Dalit, 8, and in Okhaldhunga, 6 open, 4 women and 1 youth and 1 Dalit, 12 representatives will be selected. In Solukhumbu, 6 representatives are being selected, including 2/2 from open and women and 1/1 from youth and Dalit.

'Lobbying' in Madhesh too

The process of selecting representatives has also progressed in Madhesh districts. Although the general convention representatives were unanimously selected in some districts of Madhesh, the process of selecting them through elections has progressed in most districts. 392 general convention representatives will be elected from Madhesh Province. A total of 22 general convention representatives have been elected from Sarlahi. Former district chair Revati Pant is a leader of the Ishwor Pokharel faction, while former mayor of Hariban Municipality Ganesh Prasari is close to KP Oli. Current district chair Rajnarayan Sah and party secretary Bidur Pyakurel have not been able to open up anywhere.

Discussions have started on Thursday to select general convention representatives in Saptari. ‘We are holding the first meeting to select representatives,’ said UML Saptari President Tarakant Chaudhary, ‘We will select representatives by consensus for the specified period.’ President Ashok Yadav said that the process to select general convention representatives has also progressed in Siraha. He said that although 28 general convention representatives will be selected from Siraha, discussions are underway in the constituency.

Nominations are being registered in Bara on Thursday for the selection of UML general convention representatives. For this, the establishment (KP Oli) supporters and the other supporters (Vidya Bhandari) are doing internal ‘lobbying’ to select representatives on their side. 25 general convention representatives will have to be selected from 10,909 organized members in the district.

A total of 25 representatives will be selected from 4 constituencies in Bara, including 5 in 1, 4 in 2, 6 in 3, 7 in 4 and 3 in the Dalit quota. There are 8 ex-officio representatives (organizers) in the district. One representative from the province and one from the workers will be selected from the district. He said that a total of 27 representatives from the district will participate in the general convention as general convention representatives.

Bagmati at the center

Leaders who want to stand in the general convention in Bagmati have paid special attention. Apart from the province, workers, special committees and other department representatives have been placed at the center. 242 representatives will be elected. Bagmati Committee Chairman Kailash Dhungel said that there is a possibility of increasing the representation of women and youth.

With 83 candidates from Makawanpur to select 17 representatives for the general convention, the possibility of consensus has become low. Although there were attempts to reach a consensus with the registration of candidatures on Wednesday, there is no possibility. Although most of the candidates are from UML Chairman Oli's side, everyone is 'lobbying' in their own favor to be a representative. If there is no agreement, the election for the selection of representatives will be held on Friday, said the CPN-UML Makawanpur.

Election Committee Coordinator Suryachandra Neupane said that 30 people have filed candidacies from the district's constituency number 1 in the open category. 8 people have filed candidacies for women and 10 for youth. 16 people have filed candidacies for the open category, 10 for women and 6 for youth from constituency number 2.

8 people from constituency number 1 and 8 from constituency number 2 will be elected. Three candidates have filed candidacies from across the district for 1 representative under the Dalit constituency. 8 people, including 4 open candidates, 3 women and 1 youth, will be elected from constituencies number 1 and 2. The competition between the respective parties is intense in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kavre, Dhading, Nuwakot, Dolakha, Sindhupalchowk, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Chitwan and Sindhuli in Bagmati. ‘The selection of general convention representatives has moved forward through consensus and competition,’ said central member Arun Nepal.

Competition between establishment parties in Gandaki

Nepal said that 118 general convention representatives will be elected from Gandaki, including 52 from the open side, 33 from the women’s side, 18 from the youth side, and 15 from the oppressed.’ 22 from Kaski, 14 from Syangja, 13 from Parbat, 12 from Tanahun, 11 each from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East) and Baglung, 10 from Lamjung, 9 from Gorkha, 6 from Myagdi, and 5 each from Manang and Mustang. But about 500 people have aspired to become representatives.

UML Deputy General Secretary Prithvi Subba Gurung, who is in Chairman KP Sharma Oli’s ‘camp’, and Standing Committee member Khagraj Adhikari are divided in Gandaki Province. Even though they reject the issue of factions in the public forum, their competition continues at the party committee and mass organization conventions, and political appointments.

The issue of selecting representatives in the general convention has once again surfaced. Both leaders are aspiring for office. Prithvi Subba wants to become the general secretary. However, he understands that the chances of making himself the general secretary if Oli is re-elected as the president are very low. Therefore, there is talk that he may become the general secretary candidate from the panel of Ishwor Pokharel supported by former President Bidya Devi Bhandari at the last moment. So far, he is in favor of President Oli.

Another leader wants to become the official secretary. In order to secure their positions in the event of an election, these two leaders, who lead different groups, are forced to send representatives who are suitable for them. UML Kaski Secretary Darshan Lama said that 122 candidates have been nominated for 20 representatives from Kaski (excluding the oppressed cluster). Although leaders of both parties in the district have said that they will reach a consensus on the representatives, this possibility seems very low.

The possibility of unanimous representatives being selected in 9 districts except Manang and Mustang is very low. Leaders in the district are active in bringing representatives from both sides, Prithvi Subba and Khagraj. UML Gandaki Secretary Dhananjay Dawadi said that 118 representatives from 11 districts will participate in the general convention. Prithvi Subba is currently the deputy general secretary and Padma Aryal is the secretary from Gandaki. Along with these two leaders, standing committee members Kiran Gurung and Khagraj Adhikari, there are four main contenders from Gandaki for the office bearers.

Representatives are being selected in Lumbini, which has 6 office bearers.

UML has also started selecting representatives for the general convention in Lumbini. UML Lumbini Province Committee Chairman Radhakrishna Kandel said that there are 82,135 organized members of UML in Lumbini alone. Of these, 190 representatives are being elected from geography, committees and mass organizations.

From Lumbini, Bishnu Poudel and Yubaraj Gyawali are the vice-presidents, Shankar Pokharel is the general secretary, Pradeep Gyawali is the deputy secretary, and Gokarna Bista, Chhabilal Bishwakarma and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi are the secretaries. After Rayamajhi was suspended, there are 6 office bearers in the current working committee. However, since none of them have come out in favor of leaders Vidya Bhandari and Ishwor Pokharel so far, the KP Oli side is seen to be dominant in the entire Lumbini province. However, there is a possibility that many may change their party after the representatives are selected.

One month has been made mandatory for every 3 representatives from Lumbini. In this way, 53 women, 19 Dalits and at least 26 youth under the age of 40 will be selected. There is a provision for 80 people to be elected to open positions. Chairman Kandel said that 190 representatives will participate in the general convention if 5 are selected from the provincial committee and 7 from the labor organization.

According to a UML leader from Rupandehi, Vice President Bishnu Poudel is currently silent and Secretary Gokarna Bista, who has been open for a while, has not played an effective role, he said, adding that the supporters of education are silent. 'It seems that they have been trying to participate in the selection of representatives by staying silent because they understand that there will be no selection even before the tug-of-war,' he said, 'After that, the tug-of-war will finally begin.'

Unanimous effort in Karnali

There are 3 leaders in the Politburo from Karnali, including Chief Minister Yamalal Kandel and Gorakh Bahadur Bogati, in the standing committee and 27 in the central committee. There are 46,500 organized members of UML across the province. Out of them, 115 to 20 representatives will be elected from geography, committees and mass organizations. Four general convention representatives will be elected for every 1,200 organized members. Two open members, one woman and one youth will be selected. Similarly, one representative will be selected for every 500 Dalit organized members, said UML Provincial Committee Vice-Chairman Tekraj Pachai. This time, about 50 youth will come as general convention representatives.

A provincial official said that it is not possible to say who will be on whose side as most central and provincial leaders do not come forward. ‘Earlier, no one in the group other than the chairman has been able to come forward due to fear of being taken into action,’ he said. ‘Everyone is worried about what will happen to their political future, so it has become a problem to come forward.’ He suspects that some leaders may change sides after the representatives are selected.

Nominations for the general convention representatives are being made in each district. If there is no consensus, the representatives will be decided by Saturday after the election, said UML Karnali Province Secretary Dhruv Shahi. He said that the general convention representatives will be selected through district gatherings. Vice President Pachain said that representatives will be selected unanimously in all districts.

Competition between two parties in the Far West

The Oli group is seen dominating almost all districts in the Far West. The issue of selecting representatives is seen as most complicated in Kailali. While preparations are underway to select representatives, there is a heated dispute after 13 leaders other than the Oli group were removed from their membership.

There will be a total of 130 representatives in the Far West. There will be 41 women and 89 open. There is a possibility of more women representatives in the open. Deepak Rawal said that the membership of active UML workers Kumar Badaila, Deepak Rawal, Prakash Khadka, Nawaraj Kunwar, Savitradevi Sapkota, Basanti Giri, Gajendra Swar, Pavitradevi Gautam, Udayram Jaisi, Surat Bahadur Bista, Chhatra Bahadur Khatri, Prem Kandel and Jayanarayan Joshi has been removed.

UML Kailali's Vidya pro-Oli group has claimed that all this was done to prevent the selection of representatives. Although the selection of representatives was said to be finalized by Friday, Pandey said that it will be finalized by Saturday as more representatives have been claimed than the allotted number. 'There are clearly two groups in all the districts of the Far West,' he said. UML Far West Province Committee Secretary Ran Bahadur Chand said that efforts are being made to select representatives through consensus in all nine districts.

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यसरी छानिनेछन् प्रतिनिधि

महाधिवेशन प्रतिनिधिका केन्द्रीय कमिटी सदस्य ३५५, केन्द्रीय अनुशासन आयोग २९, लेखा आयोग ३०, निर्वाचन आयोग २५, सल्लाहकार परिषद्बाट निर्वाचित हुने २५ सिधै चयन हुनेछन् । निर्वाचित प्रतिनिधिका रूपमा स्वदेशका प्रदेशस्तरीय (विशेषसमेत) कमिटीमा कार्यरत पार्टी सदस्यहरूबाट कम्तीमा दुई जना महिला सदस्यसहित पाँच जनाका दरले निर्वाचित हुने प्रतिनिधि ४५ जना हुनेछन् ।

प्रतिनिधिसभा निर्वाचन क्षेत्रमा कार्यरत पार्टी सदस्य १ हजार २ सयसम्म पार्टी सदस्य बराबर ४० वर्षमुनिका एक युवा र कम्तीमा एक जना महिलासहित ४ जना प्रतिनिधि छानिनेछ । कुनै प्रदेशमा न्यूनतम १ हजार २ सय पार्टी सदस्यमा थप ८ सय सदस्य नाघे थप एक जना महिला प्रतिनिधि र त्यसपछि प्रत्येक थप ८/८ सय नाघे थप निर्वाचित खुला प्रतिनिधि एकजना छानिनेछ । त्योभन्दा बढी भए सोही अनुपातमा पहिलो ८ सयमा महिला र अन्यमा खुला निर्वाचित प्रतिनिधि छानिनेछ ।

विशेष जिल्लामा १ हजारमा २ सय जना सदस्यसम्म पार्टी सदस्य बराबर कम्तीमा एक महिलासहित तीन जना निर्वाचित प्रतिनिधि सुनिश्चित गरिएको छ । विशेष जिल्लाअन्तर्गत निर्वाचित प्रतिनिधि संख्या करिब ४७ जना आउनेछन् । दलित प्रतिनिधिका रूपमा भूगोलका जिल्लाअन्तर्गत ५ सयसम्म दलित पार्टी सदस्यबाट कम्तीमा एक जनाका दरले प्रतिनिधि निर्वाचित हुनेछन् । त्यस क्षेत्रमा सदस्य संख्या ५ सय नाघे प्रत्येक थपमा अर्को एक जना र त्यसभन्दा बढी भए सोही अनुपातमा (तीन जना प्रतिनिधि निर्वाचित हुँदा कम्तीमा एक जना महिला अनिवार्य हुने गरी) दलित प्रतिनिधि ८१ जनाले महाधिवेशनमा भाग लिनेछन् ।

मजदुर प्रतिनिधि चयनका लागि भूगोलका ७ प्रदेशअन्तर्गत कार्यरत श्रमिक पार्टी सदस्यबाट कम्तीमा तीन महिलासहित सात जनाका दरले निर्वाचित हुने प्रतिनिधिको संख्या ४९ जना रहनेछ । भारत प्रवास विशेष निर्वाचन क्षेत्रबाट कम्तीमा ३ महिलासहित १० र बाँकी प्रवासका ५ वटा विशेष निर्वाचन क्षेत्र (अमेरिका–क्यानडा, युरोप, एसिया–प्यासिफिक, खाडी र ओसिनिया) बाट प्रत्येक क्षेत्रमा दुई महिलासहित पाँच जनाका दरले ३५ जना प्रतिनिधि निर्वाचित हुनेछन् ।

केन्द्रीय विभागमा कार्यरत पार्टी सदस्यमध्ये प्रत्येक विभागबाट एकएक जना निर्वाचित प्रतिनिधि ३२ जना आउनेछन् । पार्टी केन्द्रीय कार्यालयमा कार्यरत सदस्यमध्येबाट निर्वाचित प्रतिनिधि १ जना चुनिनेछ । जनसंगठनको मान्यताप्राप्त २३ जनसंगठनमध्ये जनसंगठन र महासंघका केन्द्रीय कमिटीमा कार्यरत पार्टी सदस्यमध्ये कम्तीमा ३ महिलासहित सात जनाका दरले निर्वाचित हुने प्रतिनिधि र जनसंगठनबाट दुई महिलासहित पाँच जनाका दरले १३७ जना निर्वाचित हुनेछन् ।

आमपार्टी सदस्यबाट निर्वाचित हुने भूगोल, दलित, उपत्यका विशेष र सम्पर्क समन्वयअन्तर्गतका निर्वाचन क्षेत्रबाट प्रतिनिधि चुनिँदा शेष संख्या ५० प्रतिशतभन्दा बढी भए थप एकजना प्रतिनिधि थपिनेछन् ।

प्रवासी नेपाली संघ भारत र प्रवासी नेपाली संघ अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय कमिटीबाट प्रदेश कमिटीसरह कम्तीमा २ महिलासहित ५ जना चयन गर्ने निर्णय भएको छ । उपत्यका विशेष र सम्पर्क समन्वयअन्तर्गतका जिल्ला कमिटीहरूमा पनि भौगोलिक जिल्ला कमिटीसरह १ हजार २ सयभित्र ४० वर्षमुनिका युवा चयन गर्ने गरी विधि संशोधन गरिएको छ । यसअघि निर्वाचन क्षेत्रबाट मात्र प्रतिनिधि चयन हुने व्यवस्था थियो ।