According to the NC statute, the party president, one general secretary and one treasurer will be elected through the general convention. The elected party president will then nominate a vice-president, another general secretary and a joint general-secretary.
Ram Chandra Paudel from the establishment faction and Sher Bahadur Deuba from the rival faction are seen to be at the forefront in the race for party president. In addition, NC General Secretary Krishna Sitaula, who is also from the establishment faction, has been working with youth leaders of the party to form his own panel. In an attempt to become the unanimous candidate from the establishment faction, Paudel has been trying to persuade Sitaula to withdraw his candidacy announcement. But as of Monday evening, Sitaula has declined the overtures and is in consultations with the youth leaders over his team. He has proposed Gagan Thapa as general secretary from his panel.
Paudel sees Sitaula's candidacy as a challenge to his own, as the votes of the establishment side would get divided between them. Similarly, he is also working simultaneously on forming his panel without Sitaula's support. Paudel has proposed Sashank Koirala as general secretary from his panel. But he has found it difficult to accommodate the leaders of the establishment faction as General Secretary Prakash Man Singh, Sujata Koirala and Ram Sharan Mahat are also staking their claims to the post of party president or some other topmost post. A leader close to Paudel claimed that his team is likely to be announced by Tuesday evening or Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Sher Bahadur Deuba has been waiting for the establishment faction to announce its team first. He plans to finalize his own team only after that as he is hoping for a chance to draw some disgruntled leaders to his faction.
All aspirants for NC president have intensified their negotiations with the second rung party leaders to finalize their teams. With representatives for the party general convention starting to arrive in Kathmandu, aspirants for the topmost positions have been meeting them directly or have entrusted aides to canvas their support.
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