Party President Koirala had called Sher Bahadur Deuba, Ram Chandra Poudel, Kul Bahadur Gurung and Suprabha Ghimire to his residence at Maharajgunj on Friday afternoon to request them to arrive at a consensus over the PP leader after the four announced they would contest the election scheduled for Saturday.
During the meeting with the contenders for PP leadership, Koirala asked them to forge a consensus over the matter. “We should proceed through consensus. We should move ahead in a united manner,” said Koirala.
He also announced that he would not contest the election himself due to his poor health, dismissing speculation that there would eventually be no PP election if Koirala decided to claim the post.
Koirala asked the four NC leaders to take part in the democratic exercise of election with sportsmanship if they fail to reach a consensus. “I wish there were no differences within the party as long as I am alive,” he added.
He said that the party is mired in factionalism as the leaders describe themselves as belonging to one group or the other. “This is the right time to end this problem by arriving at a consensus [over the parliamentary party leader],” he further said.
Koirala had gone upstairs, leaving the four leaders in a room on the ground floor for discussions. NC leaders Krishna Sitaula and Bimalendra Nidhi were also present during the meeting.
Deuba, Poudel and Ghimire had asked their rivals to give up their candidacies, each justifying his or her own candidacy. However, Gurung said he did not ask for anything during the meeting that lasted about 15 minutes even as others started justifying their respective candidacies.
Talking to media persons after the meeting, Poudel said they reached an agreement to contest the poll in a friendly manner. “We have decided to extend full support whoever emerges as PP leader,” he added.
Poudel had argued that he should be given the chance to be PP leader as he has made a significant contribution to House affairs. “I told them to think about the needs of the House,” he said. “Let´s evaluate the contribution each of us has made and then decide about the parliamentary party leader.”
Poudel added that since there was no consensus among the leaders he would contest the election on Saturday.
Deuba told media persons that he deserved the post of PP leader as he did not hold any party position and had been idle for the last few years. “I had decided not to take part in the election if party President Koirala filed his nomination,” he said. “I will take part in the election as Girijababu has decided not to contest.”
Deuba also criticized the media for spreading misinformation that he would not contest the PP leadership election.
Ghimire also asked the other contenders to support her candidacy, suggesting to them to concentrate instead on preparations for the upcoming party general convention. “I asked them to support me as the parliamentary party leadership is only for eight to 10 months,” she added.
Saturday´s election will be the second* PP leadership contest in the entire history of the NC. In 2001 after the then NC PP leader and prime minister Koirala stepped down, there was a contest between Deuba and Sushil Koirala, in which the former won.
* (Corrected)
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