Addressing a press conference in Jhapa Sunday upon the conclusion of the Association´s national gathering the organization´s chief Mahesh Basnet alerted UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal against making any compromise on the party´s official stance.[break]
Chairman Khanal during his inaugural speech at the gathering on Friday had said UML would push for the party´s official line but was quick to add that the third-largest party wouldn´t osbstruct the statute drafting process by sticking to its gun.
Basnet criticized Khanal for saying that UML was open to discuss other systems of governance as well. "Our party chairman should not make such remarks," said Basnet.
Basnet told Republica that the three-day gathering has also passed recommendations and included them on the 14-point political proposal endorsed at the gathering. He argued that UML should not backtrack on its stance on the system of governance as some noted leaders from the UCPN (Maoist) and the Nepali Congress are already supporting the UML-proposed system of governance.
UML in its election manifesto has said it wants a popularly-elected prime minister as executive head and ceremonial president as head of state. Later, however, UML lawmakers at the CA´s thematic committee were divided -- some backed the NC-proposed Westminster parliamentary model while some others stuck to the official UML position.
Also, the party´s standing committee meeting in a recent month has said it was open to adopting mixed (sharing the jurisdiction between the popularly-elected president and parliament-elect prime minister) model of governance if other parties agreed.
The conclave where 500 YAN representatives from 72 districts gathered passed a proposal of pressuring the political parties to accomplish the twin tasks of the constitution writing and the peace process within the remaining CA tenure that expires May 28.
Stating that some elements were active to make the CA a failure, the UML youth wing also held the UCPN (Maoist) responsible for rendering the 601-seat CA ineffective.
"Maoists are involved in politicizing criminal activities and criminalizing politics. We will retaliate against this," he claimed.
Addressing the gathering UML CC member Yogesh Bhattarai urged party cadres to work as per the UML´s political line of "people´s multiparty democracy".
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