KATHMANDU, July 24: The CPN-UML that revived its youth wing, Youth Force, shortly after Chairman K P Oli was ousted from power has formed its 1101-member Valley Command Force.
A gathering of the Youth Force in Karki Banquet in the capital on Saturday formed the Valley Command Force under the command of Youth Force Deputy Chief Pushpa Raj Shrestha. The function was chaired by UML General Secretary Ishwar Pokharel.
Addressing the function, General Secretary Pokharel directed the Youth Force to work in line with the party’s political programs and help uphold the principle of rule of law, constitutional supremacy and promote the good works done by the UML in the past. “We are in favor of constitution and rule of law. Youth Force will help to strengthen the same thing,” he said.
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Pokharel, however, asked the Youth Force to stand ready to act if some party leaders and cadres were attacked and attempts were made to break the constitutional process and trample people’s mandate. “We believe in peaceful competitive politics. If some people go against that and obstruct the constitutional process, we must be vigilant,” he further said.
Also addressing the function, Youth Force Chairman Mahesh Basnet warned that they will take to the streets if an ordinance is introduced to split the UML and political appointments made by the outgoing government led by K P Oli were revoked. He also said that the Youth Force will retaliate any attempts of the government to introduce supplementary budget and amend constitution to increase the number of ministerial portfolios in the federal government.
Experts, however, express worry that this could be an attempt to keep people under the shadow of terror and undermine rule of law in the country. Earlier, UML youth leader Yogesh Bhattarai had demanded disbanding the militant youth organizations of both the Oli-led faction and similar youth wing-- Akhil Force-- revived by youths close to senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.
