The convention which is under way in Kathmandu elected former RJP chairman Thapa as the head of the unified party on Sunday as the proposal to entrust top four leaders -- Thapa, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, Pashupati Shamsher JB Rana and Prakash Chandra Lohani -- with heading the party on a rotational basis was withdrawn following protest by delegates on Saturday. [break]
While declaring Thapa as the chairman, it wasn´t mentioned whether other leaders would be allowed to head the party on a rotational basis.
According to leader Bikram Pandey, there will be a presidium comprising top leaders and that will take a decision whether or not there is a need for changing the party chief.
“For now, Surya Bahadur Thapa has been elected the party chairman. He may continue for some years if he runs the party competently. The presidium may decide to change the party head in future if it deems necessary,” Pandey told Republica. “The presidium´s decision will be implemented only after the central committee endorses it.”
Chand, Rana and Lohani will be members of the presidium and it will be made an inclusive body by incorporating few more members based on the principle of inclusion.
The top leaders had convened a gathering of the party´s district chiefs before announcing the name of the party chairman. The leaders urged the district chiefs not to protest the decision and convince delegates from their respective districts. “We need to stand united and settle internal differences through mutual understanding since we are going for general elections soon,” a district chief quoted the leaders as saying during the gathering.
However, there was confusion among party delegates as members gave differing explanations over whether or not the rotational system was dropped.
“While announcing the chairman´s name, the leaders didn´t clearly explain whether he [Thapa] will be succeeded by other leaders on a rotational basis. The leaders reached a tacit understanding and the issue wasn´t clarified inside the hall,” said a district chief of the party requesting anonymity.
A leader said the 13-member body is named presidium while other leaders described it as a high-level political working committee.
Of the total 107 central committee members, the convention will elect 77 members through voting that is scheduled for Monday. The remaining 30 members will be nominated by the chairman. The central committee will later elect two general secretaries and the other two general secretaries will be nominated afterward. Of the 77 members to be elected directly, some quotas have been reserved for women, Dalits, ethnic communities, Madhes-based communities and three undeveloped regions -- Karnali, Seti and Mahakali.
The convention on Saturday had decided to retain RPP as the name of the unified party and plow as the party´s election symbol.
Though all the leaders Thapa, Rana, Chand, Lohani and Devkota were in the RPP a few years ago, Thapa-led faction had split from the party to form RJP around nine years ago.
After agreeing to reunify the two parties, the leaders had two years ago decided to unite the district chapters of the two parties and other local bodies. The party bodies have already merged to form a single committee in the districts.
Meanwhile, a group of youth leaders have launched a campaign to elect new and young faces in the party´s central committee. “We need to elect at least 50 percent of young and new faces from this convention if we do not want our party to be labeled as Panchayat supporter,” said Uday Pokharel, Syangja chairman of the party.
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