KATHMANDU, Jan 14: Nepali Congress (NC) leader Ramesh Lekhak has claimed that party President Sher Bahadur Deuba showed maximum flexibility until the very last moment in an effort to preserve party unity.
Speaking at Nagarik Frontline on Wednesday, Lekhak said that despite Deuba being ready even to curtail his own powers, efforts to reach a consensus failed due to the rigidity of General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma.
According to the former Minister for Home Affairs, President Deuba had already agreed to relinquish his authority over ticket distribution in the upcoming elections.
How to become more flexible
“President Deuba had agreed not to sign election tickets himself and to delegate the responsibility to a parliamentary committee or the acting president,” Lekhak said, elaborating on the failed negotiations. “He even showed flexibility by agreeing to give up his statute-backed authority to prevent the party from splitting.”
Lekhak said that while the establishment faction favored holding the regular general convention, the other side refused to back down from its insistence on a special general convention, resulting in a deadlock.
“We proposed selecting leadership through the regular process, but they insisted on a special general convention in violation of party procedures,” Lekhak said. “I had been playing the role of a bridge for the past three months to find a solution, but due to time constraints and differences in understanding, we failed to avert an accident.”
Lekhak maintained that the establishment faction was compelled to opt for disciplinary action after the general secretaries challenged the party’s legitimacy and statute by advancing parallel activities.
