According to the decision of the party´s standing committee taken Wednesday night, party Vice chairman Ashok Rai, Prithvi Subba Gurung, Rakam Chemjong, Bijaya Subba and Kiran Gurung were stripped of their responsibilities for not carrying out their duties. [break]
While Rai was the coordinator of all the party´s sister organizations, Gurung was in-charge of the Democratic Indigenous Federation. Similarly, Subba, Chemjong and Kiran Gurung were in-charge of the cultural, intellectual and social inclusion fronts of the party respectively.
"The standing committee stripped them of their party responsibilities as they were not carrying out their responsibilities," said CPN-UML Secretary Yubraj Gyawali, adding, "But there will be yet another division of party responsibilities."
The party has already removed another disgruntled Janajati leader Rajendra Shrestha as the Valley in-charge on the same charge.
The leaders who lost their party responsibilities have not attended any of the party´s meeting and programs in a show of protest against the party´s position on the issue of identity-based federalism. While the party establishment is in favor of multi-identity based federalism, the dissident leaders have been supporting the agenda of single-identity based federalism.
The indigenous leaders have also been demanding that the party take initiatives for reinstatement of the dissolved Constituent Assembly (CA). But the standing committee meeting on Wednesday said CA reinstatement is not possible and has decided to go for a fresh election.
"We have taken the decision of the standing committee very seriously and as a step toward expelling us from the party," said Chemjong, "We are surprised by the decision because Chairman Jhalanath Khanal had told us on Tuesday to continue the intra-party struggle in a democratic way and promised to hold further discussions on our demands after returning from his Europe trip."
Khanal had called the leaders to his residence on Tuesday to discuss their demands.
Chemjong said they had put forward their dissenting views on federalism in a disciplined way, hoping to correct the party´s line on federalism.
"But our efforts to make the party progressive have been dashed following the decision. The clout of the rightist force in the party has influenced the party a lot."
The party has already sought written clarification from the Janajati leaders for not carrying out their responsibilities and going against the party´s official position on federalism. But the leaders have not furnished their clarifications as of Thursday.
"We have already decided to furnish clarifications to the party because we are bona fide cadres of the party and we have given our life to the party," said Chemjong.
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