The next CWC meeting has been called for 1 pm Tuesday. [break]
While CWC members close to Sher Bahadur Deuba pressed the party president to withdraw the proposal and bring a new one based on ´consensus´, leaders close to Koirala argued that the party president should be given a free hand in the nomination process to run the party smoothly.
Deuba faction leaders also suggested to Koirala to bring the nomination proposal in line with the procedures set in the party´s statute.
During the CWC meeting on Sunday, President Koirala proposed Ram Chandra Paudel for vice president and Krishna Prasad Sitaula for one of the two general secretaries in the party´s office bearers´ body.
Altogether 16 CWC members including Uma Kant Chaudhary, Ramesh Rijal, Mina Pandey, Nabindra Raj Joshi, N P Saud, Chandra Bhandari, Ratna Sherchan, Ishwari Neupane and Dipak Giri spoke during Monday´s CWC meeting.
Arjun Narsingh KC, Mohammad Aftab Aalam, Min Bishwakarma, Man Bahadur Bishwakarma, Bal Krishna Khand and Dhan Raj Gurung also took part in the deliberations.
Among those who spoke, only three CWC members including Chaudhary, Sherchan and Man Bahadur Bishwakarma openly supported Koirala´s proposal. Majority of the remaining speakers suggested to President Koirala to bring a new proposal based on consensus.
Support for President Koirala´s proposal has fallen into a minority as even those CWC members seen as close to him during the general convention including Sujata Koirala, Arjun Narsingh KC, Kul Bahadur Gurung and Gagan Thapa have stood against the proposal.
While Ms Koirala was opting for the vice presidency claiming she was promised the post during general convention, KC had been staking claim for party general secretary. During the CWC meeting on Monday, KC suggested to go for voting on the nomination.
Party leaders say President Koirala is unlikely to withdraw his nomination proposal despite mounting pressure on him to do so. "He will instead adjust CWC members close to Deuba in various other organizational units of the party," said a leader close to Koirala on condition of anonymity.
President Koirala during Sunday´s CWC meeting had said that he picked Paudel and Sitaula for the posts on the ground of their being senior leaders.
Bal Krishna Khand, who is close to Deuba, strongly criticized the decision at Monday´s meeting, referring indirectly to the hooting incident against Sitaula during the party´s Mahasamiti meeting last year.
Related story
Govt prepares response plan against ‘heat wave'
