Oli, who has led the party twice, is contesting for the third time as the chairman. Another candidate for chairman, Ishwor Pokharel, is also in the fray by forming a panel.
What you should know
KP Sharma Oli and Ishwor Pokharel have filed their candidacies for the UML leadership along with a panel.
On Monday, leaders including Oli and Pokharel filed their candidacies for various posts during the closed session of the 11th general convention of the UML at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu. The election of the central committee along with office bearers will be held on Tuesday.
Oli, who has led the party twice, is going to contest for the post of president for the third time. He has given Shankar Pokharel the continuation as the general secretary of his team. After Pokharel got the continuation, Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali was dissatisfied and refused to run for the post of vice-chairman. He has only filed his candidacy for the post of central committee member. The candidates for vice-chairman of the Oli team are Bishnu Poudel, Ram Bahadur Thapa, Guru Baral, Prithvisubba Gurung. Poudel, Thapa and Baral were also vice-chairmen before. Gurung, who claimed the post of general secretary, has been made the vice-chairman candidate.
The candidates for deputy general secretary on the Oli panel are Raghubir Mahaseth, Lekhraj Bhatta and Bishnu Rimal. Rimal was also the deputy general secretary before, while Mahaseth and Bhatta were secretaries. Oli had made Bhatta a candidate for secretary in the initial list. But after he refused, Bhanbhukta Dhakal, who was being prepared to be raised for the post of deputy general secretary, was made the candidate for secretary and Bhatta was made the candidate for deputy general secretary.
The Oli team's secretary candidates are Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Padma Aryal, Chhabilal Bishwakarma, Khagraj Adhikari, Yamalal Kandel, Sherdhan Rai, Hikmat Karki, Mahesh Basnet and Rajan Bhattarai. Padma Aryal and Chhabilal Bishwakarma were also secretaries before. The secretary candidates are Hikmat Karki Koshi, Yamalal Kandel are the Chief Ministers of Karnali. Sherdhan Rai Koshi and Khagraj Adhikari are former Chief Ministers of Gandaki. Tank Karki and Bhim Acharya have also filed their candidacies as independent candidates for the post of vice-chairman.
Agni Kharel, a standing committee member close to Oli, has filed his candidacy for the post of secretary after not being included in the panel. He had claimed the post of secretary from Oli's side. ‘Even though I did not make it to the panel, I have filed my candidacy for the post of secretary,’ he said, ‘I have the support of my friends.’ Kharel was an expert advisor when Oli was the Prime Minister.
Lalbabu Pandit and Rajendra Gautam, who claimed the post of secretary, also did not make it to the Oli panel. Gautam has filed his candidacy for the post of deputy general secretary, while Pandit has filed his candidacy for the post of secretary independently. Gautam was the head of the publicity department and Pandit was the head of the liaison department. Suhang Nembang, son of former UML vice president and speaker Subash Nembang, also did not make it to the Oli team. He has filed his candidacy on the open side. Ramkumari Jhankri, who returned to UML from the Unified Socialist Party, has filed her candidacy for the post of central member through the establishment.
Another candidate for president, Ishwor Pokharel, has also entered the election fray by forming a panel. The vice-president candidates from Pokharel’s team include Gokarna Bista, Binda Pandey, Parashuram Meghi Gurung and Arun Nepal. No candidate has been filed for the post of vice-president. Bista was previously the secretary. Binda Pandey was suspended after opposing the decision to set up a central office in Danma. Surendra Pandey has filed his candidacy for the post of general secretary. He was previously the vice-president.
Yogesh Bhattarai, who is the secretary, has filed his candidacy for the post of deputy general secretary from Pokharel's side. The other two deputy general secretaries are Anand Pokharel and Baijunath Chaudhary. 8 people have filed their candidacies for the post of secretary from Pokharel's side. Gokul Baskota, Binod Dhakal, Thakur Gaire, Krishnagopal Shrestha, Karna Thapa, Rachana Khadka, Purushottam Poudel and Indralal Sapkota have filed their candidacies. Shrestha was in the Oli camp before filing his candidacy. Baskota, Shrestha and Thapa were also close to Oli at the 10th general convention held in Chitwan in 2078. Baskota was the Minister of Communications when Oli was the Prime Minister in 2074.
Leader Pokharel said that he had become the candidate for the post of chairman to run the party according to the rules and procedures. ‘The party needs to be reorganized on the basis of organizational, ideological and working style, that is why I am running for it,’ he said. He said that internal competition should not be taken as unnatural.
General Secretary candidate Shankar Pokharel said that he had filed his candidacy because Chairman Oli needs to form a strong team to face the political crisis. ‘We are trying to move forward on the basis that the party should be united to face the challenges,’ he said. Another General Secretary candidate Surendra Pandey said that his objective is to restore democracy in party life, establish rules and restructure the organization. ‘My candidacy is to build a strong party, establish rules and procedures to strengthen democracy in party life,’ he said.
Deputy General Secretary candidate Yogesh Bhattarai said that the country has undergone major political changes after the Gen-G rebellion and that the old leadership cannot handle the party in such a situation. ‘The old leadership of the party is not in a position to handle it again,’ he said, ‘Many questions have been raised about the leadership. Therefore, we should hand over the leadership and take UML forward with a new team.'
603 candidacies for 301 posts
According to Election Commission member Sanuraj Pokharel, 603 candidacies have been filed for 301 posts of the Central Committee. For the office bearers, 2 have filed candidacies for the post of Chairman (1), 11 for the post of Vice-Chairman (5), 2 for the post of General Secretary (1), 7 for the post of Deputy General Secretary (3), and 20 for the post of Secretary (9). The leaders who have registered their candidacies for the office bearers have also nominated themselves for the post of Central Member.
Khajida Khatun Siddiqui has been elected unopposed in the Muslim women's quota and Hari Prasad Ghimire has been elected unopposed in the South Asia migration quota. In the Disciplinary Commission, Prof. Dr. Bharatraj Pahari has been elected unopposed as Chairman, Chakra Bahadur Parajuli as Vice-Chairman, and Rajesh Ghimire as Secretary. Badmi Kumari Budha has also been elected unopposed from the backward areas women's quota. Similarly, the Chairman of the Accounts Commission, Pushparaj Kandel, Vice Chairman Dhanendraraj Ghimire and Secretary Ishwori Prasad Kharel have been elected unopposed. Naresh Rokaya and Sushil Kumar Thapa have also been elected unopposed as central members under the age of 40.
According to the General Convention Election Commission, the structure of the 301-member central committee has been decided as a 'cluster'. This time, a 5 percent quota has been set for youth under the age of 40 in the central committee, that is, 15 people. Out of the 19 office bearers in the central committee, there will be 1 chairman, 5 vice-chairmen, 1 general secretary, 3 deputy general secretaries, 9 secretaries, and 9 people from all 8 provinces, including the valley, at the rate of 9 people (72).
Similarly, there will be 5 open members, 3 women and 1 youth from all provinces. Out of the 125 open members, 71 are open, 52 women and 2 youth. Out of 25 tribal/tribal members, 15 open members, 8 women and 2 youth will be selected. Similarly, 11 out of 19 open, 6 women and 2 youth leaders will be selected in the Madhesi quota. 1 out of 2 migrants from India and 1 from other countries, 2 open and 1 woman from workers, 1 person with disabilities, 7 open, 4 women and 1 youth from Dalits will be central members.
The ‘cluster’ has been decided to have 5 open and 3 women from Tharu ‘cluster’ out of 8, 4 open and 1 woman from Muslim community out of 5, and 1 open and 1 woman from backward areas. One-third of the 301-member Central Committee will be Politburo and one-third of the Politburo will be Standing Committee. Therefore, now there will be 19 central office bearers, 33 standing committees and 99 Politburo.
