KATHMANDU, Oct 8: The Nepali Congress 2.0’s 15th General Convention has focused more on leadership selection and accommodating party leaders than on shaping new policies and programs.
Many had expected the convention, underway in Kathmandu since Sunday, to formulate fresh policies and programs to guide the party. Instead, policy debate has largely become a formality, while the convention has concentrated on amending the party statute and electing a new leadership.
Four reports were presented during Monday’s closed session. Although the party had initially said the reports would be discussed province by province before approval, they were endorsed without discussion.
At the previous two regular conventions, leaders then in charge had proposed expanding the number of office bearers by amending the party statute. Leaders who later took control through the special convention had criticized those moves, arguing that the positions and Central Working Committee had been expanded merely to accommodate factions and individual leaders.
Despite those earlier objections, the same leaders expanded both the number of office bearers and the Central Working Committee after taking charge through the special convention. The ongoing regular convention has again increased party positions, drawing criticism that the statute has been amended to make it easier for the leadership to accommodate more leaders.
Great Leadership: A Road Less Traveled
The dispute over the party’s legitimacy following the special convention remains under consideration at the Supreme Court. The faction that took control through the special convention is holding the current convention, while the camp of outgoing president Sher Bahadur Deuba is preparing to hold its own convention in Mangsir.
Central committee expanded to 297
For the first time, the Congress has created the position of senior vice president and expanded its Central Working Committee to 297 members. It has also created positions for a woman vice president and a woman general secretary, while increasing the number of joint general secretaries.
Until the 14th General Convention, the party had one president, two vice presidents, two general secretaries, eight joint general secretaries and one treasurer.
Under the amended statute, the 297-member Central Working Committee will include 25 office bearers: one president, one senior vice president, four vice presidents including at least one woman, three general secretaries including at least one woman, 15 joint general secretaries and one treasurer.
Of the 15 joint general secretaries, nine will be elected from inclusive clusters and two through open competition. The president will nominate the treasurer and four joint general secretaries, including at least one woman. The party will also have one spokesperson and one deputy spokesperson.
Thapa declares factionalism over
Addressing the convention’s closed session on Wednesday, party President Gagan Kumar Thapa claimed that factional politics within the Congress had come to an end.
Thapa, who has faced accusations of protecting his own allies, urged delegates not to distribute voting slips in his name during the election for the new leadership.
“Now the distinction between special and non-special is over. There are no longer ruling and opposition camps within the party,” Thapa said. “There are no longer 36 and 74 groups, the Deuba faction or any other faction.”
The closed session also endorsed a contemporary political report presented by Vice President Bishwo Prakash Sharma, which raised concerns, including the erosion of democratic culture.
Sharma said the Congress had conducted even its closed session in a way that allowed the wider public to hear its discussions, describing the practice as historic.
“The Congress wants to listen. It should be able to smile both in defeat and victory,” Sharma said. “We want a Congress that has answers, a Congress that inspires hope, trust and confidence rather than complaints and despair.”
General Secretary Guru Raj Ghimire, responding to questions raised over his organizational report, said the proposals would be implemented to make the Congress stronger, better organized and more popular.
