KATHMANDU, Dec 16: CPN-UML Deputy General Secretary candidate Yogesh Bhattarai has said that the party can no longer remain dynamic under the continued leadership of a single individual.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Bhattarai made the remarks in a clear reference to party chair KP Sharma Oli.
Yogesh Bhattarai calls UML leadership to resolve candidacy disp...
Bhattarai said the party was pushed into an electoral process because Oli refused to agree on leadership transfer and transformation. “We believe convention delegates will deliver a verdict through their votes that a party cannot stay vibrant under the prolonged continuation of one leader,” he said, adding that the scope for consensus on leadership has now been exhausted and that agreement can only emerge through the electoral process.
Bhattarai argued that any possibility of consensus ended after Oli filed his candidacy for a third term and a fourth stint as party chair. “How many times should one leader contest? For how many terms should a single individual continue to lead?” Bhattarai asked, noting that his group had attempted to introduce a two-term limit, an issue he said would eventually be institutionalized even if it could not be enforced now.
Senior Vice Chair Ishwar Pokhrel is challenging Oli for the party leadership, while Bhattarai is contesting for deputy general secretary from Pokhrel’s panel.
