The Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) on Saturday held a controversial election for its executive committee despite the Supreme Court (SC)’s order against holding the election. The NOC held the election through an online process with the voting window open from 1 pm on Saturday amid fear that the physical election might be intervened by the authorities. With the holding of the controversial election, the NOC leadership under President Jeevan Ram Shrestha has defied three orders from governmental authorities and the judiciary. They have defied an order from the Patan High Court, a directive from the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) and the recent ruling from the apex court. The election process not only lacks legal ground but also the moral ground. Current NOC President Shrestha decided to push through the election to secure his third term against the statutory provision to limit the leadership position for a maximum of two terms. Shrestha had hastily pushed through the amendment of the statute with majority members in his support—something clearly demonstrates that this is purely done to serve his vested interests. Both the MoYS and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should not recognize the bid of Shrestha to reelect himself for a third term, considering the fact that the election was a sham, marred by force and devoid of legitimacy.
There is a troubling trend in Nepali politics that those in the leadership rarely handover the leadership to others. While they cling to the leadership position as long as they can, those in leadership positions also do not consider grooming their successors. This typical trend seems to have infested the NOC as well. Pushing through the election process despite repeated orders from the judiciary and concerned government bodies clearly shows that current President Shrestha wants to stay in power by any means. The clause 25(1) of the NOC’s statute states that a sitting president of the NOC cannot contest an election for a third consecutive term. Shrestha had pushed through the amendment in the statute a few days ahead of the expiry of his second term and took an adamant stance to hold the sham election. A number of committee members and office-bearers under the influence of Jeevan Ram had firstly defied the Patan High Court’s order on December 2 to not move forward with statute amendment by organizing a special general meeting on December 3, which amended the statute and announced the election for December 28. The amendment had enabled Jeevan Ram to contest the election for a third consecutive term. Such a tendency to prolong stay in power does not augur well for the growth and development of any institution.
51,637 NOCs issued in six months
Both the MoYS and the National Sports Council (NSC) under the ministry have expressed dissatisfaction over the anarchical conduct of NOC president Jeevan Ram who has defied the decision of multiple governmental bodies. Member Secretary of the NSC Tanka Lal Ghising lamented the conduct of President Jeevan Ram citing the timing of the statute amendment and the defiance of court orders. He claimed that if the statute amendment had taken place a year earlier, NOC’s election process might not have invited problems. The move of current NOC President Jeevan Ram appears outright wrong in the sense that he initiated the amendment of statute of the NOC through a special general meeting less than a month prior to the election, especially when the Patan High Court had instructed the NOC to not hold any general meeting. The disregard for the laws and the orders of court exposes his anarchical tendencies. It is said that Jeevan Ram had inducted new committee members to the NOC right before the election and conspired to withhold election in multiple sports associations as other disdainful acts. Since the current heads of various sports associations are allied to Jeevan Ram, not holding fresh elections for the leadership posts in those organizations helped strengthen Jeevan Ram’s bid for a third tenure. In light of all these foul play by the current NOC leadership to secure a third consecutive term, the MoYS and International Olympic Committee (IOC) must not recognize the new NOC Committee and hold those disregarding rule of law and judicial supremacy to account.
