The 'Revival' campaign has started in the UML with the demand to go to an advance general convention to restructure the party's policy and leadership. The current and former central members of the UML have raised the voice of an advance general convention to hand over the leadership after giving a respectful farewell to the first generation leaders.

The leaders have stated that the campaign launched by central members Naresh Rokaya, Samik Badal, Jhapat Rawal and others has the support of former President Bidya Devi Bhandari, former Senior Vice President Ishwor Pokharel, former Vice President Surendra Pandey and others. 'Our campaign is to hold an early (advance) general convention to hand over the leadership to the second and third generations after giving a respectful farewell to the first generation,' said central member Rokaya. 'Our objective is renaissance in the party, not focusing on any individual.'

The leaders involved in the campaign gathered at the Minbhavan Campus in New Baneshwor on Saturday. More than a hundred people, including former central members Navina Lama, Ramesh Poudel and Deepa Sharma, as well as officials from fraternal organizations, participated in the meeting. Central member Badal said that no one in the meeting disagreed with the idea of ​​reorganizing the party. “Various suggestions were made in the meeting, and we will move the campaign forward based on those suggestions,” he said.

There has been no UML central committee meeting since the February 21 election. UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli is resting at his residence in Gundu, Bhaktapur after undergoing surgery for gallstones. Oli was diagnosed with gallstones during treatment after being arrested on April 14 for an investigation into the repression of the Gen-G movement. He underwent surgery after being released on April 26.

Vice President Ram Bahadur Thapa has been making necessary decisions as the acting chairman. Leaders have demanded that a central committee meeting be called as soon as Oli’s health improves.

Central members have said that a proposal for an ‘early’ general convention will be put forward in the central committee meeting. ‘The central committee should decide to go to the early general convention to restructure the party policy and leadership,’ said central member Rokaya.

Former President Bhandari has been active in UML politics recently. ‘The former president has become active for UML reforms after the election results. Talks are underway with campaigning leaders,’ said a leader close to Bhandari.

Central member Rokaya says the organization should be restructured from the center to the local level. ‘After the convention of all structures and the selection of leadership, the leadership should be handed over to the new one from the early general convention,’ he said. ‘The traditional style in distributing party membership should be broken. There is a one-door policy in distributing membership. This should be changed.’

Another central member Badal says that the first generation leaders should now play a figurative role of guardianship. He said that the party should be ready to rebuild by taking collective responsibility from the office bearers towards the election results. ‘A party is not built by taking one chair to another. The policy, leadership and organizational structure should also be new,’ he said.

Badal says that the youth campaign will move forward with the policy and leadership of the reorganized party in the 2084 BS local level and provincial elections. ‘We should go to the local elections in a way that can answer every question of the people,’ he said.

UML Publicity Department Coordinator Min Bahadur Shahi says that the leadership will not be displaced just because someone wants to. ‘The party should go in a new way. The organization should be organized,’ he said, ‘There is a method and process to change the original leadership, the leadership will neither be displaced nor established just because someone wants to.’

Stating that the leadership was selected by achieving superiority through competition, Shahi said that now is the time to strengthen the organization. ‘Some may think that they will be established in the leadership when populism is dominant,’ he said, ‘Now is the time to strengthen the party through internal unity.’

A signature collection campaign was launched in the second week of last Chaitra under the leadership of UML Intellectuals Council Chairman Gajendra Thapaliya demanding a special general convention. After that, Acting Chairman Ram Bahadur Thapa summoned the leaders who were running the campaign and instructed them to postpone it. After that, the signature campaign was stopped.

Article 72 of the UML statute contains a provision regarding special general convention. If two-thirds of the district committees or a majority of the National General Convention Representatives Council demand a special general convention in writing, showing a concrete agenda and reasons, the Central Committee has a provision to call a general convention within six months of the registration of the demand.

If a special general convention is not called within six months as demanded by the majority of signatories, there is also a provision in the statute for the demanding party to call it itself. There were 2,263 representatives in the 11th general convention.