KATHMANDU, July 20: The ongoing seventh plenum of UCPN (Maoist) has been postponed for Saturday. The plenum is scheduled to begin at 11 am.
Maoist plenum begins after a brief halt
The UCPN (Maoist) plenum has resumed after a brief halt due to a scuffle between two rival groups-- one supporting party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the other supporting Vice-chairman and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai--over selection of team leader from the party´s Bhojpura State Committee, on Friday.[break]
Earlier on, a scuffle between the two groups had erupted after Baliram Sah, known to be close to Bhattarai, was offered to air his views during today´s closed session. Dahal´s supporters resorted to obstruction, saying he was not the person selected by majority to speak for the delegation from the state committee. [break]
The resumption of the five-day plenum has been possible after a politburo meeting, convened at the Nepal Tourism Board meeting hall following the dispute, reached an understanding to resolve the dispute. According to Dilaram Acharya, the meeting agreed to leave to the state committee itself to decide who should speak for the committee´s representatives.
Prabhu Sah, who is close to Bhattarai had manhandled Janardan Sharma, who supports Dahal, over the selection of team leader from the party´s Bhojpura State Committee. Bhattarai´s supporters had even threw the chairs at Dahal. Bhattarai had exited from the plenum following the incident.
With the situation getting out of control, the plenum was temporarily halted.
Earlier, the five-day plenum that had begun Tuesday in Bhrikutimandap was halted by former PLA fighters over alleged misappropriation of funds by their commanders at cantonments. The plenum resumed only after the party formed Thursday probe panels to investigate the allegations.
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