Chief Minister of Province 5 and CPN standing committee member Shankar Pokharel has raised questions about concerns of senior leaders about the proposal of Chairman KP Sharma Oli to hold general convention in December.
Oli had proposed with fellow Chairman Pushpa Kamal to hold the general convention in December on Saturday.
Pointing that the leaders had agreed to hold general convention of unification within two years while unifying the two parties, Pokharel has asked whether it is appropriate to refuse to hold one within three years.
"Is it appropriate for the leaders, who pledged to hold general convention of unification within two years while unifying the parties, to shirk citing it can't be held when proposed to hold general convention within three years?" Pokharel has posted on Facebook.
Oli had made the proposal on Saturday to resolve the internal dispute in the party. The two chairmen talked for almost two and a half hours on Sunday but failed to reach any agreement.
There were rumors on Saturday that Oli and Dahal reached an agreement. The two chairmen had proposed to hold the general convention in December during the meeting. Secretariat members felt the warring chairmen have reconciled due to that.
Nepal had expressed displeasure stating that Dahal and Oli acted too cozy during the secretariat meeting. But Dahal has since claimed that there has been no such deal.
Dahal briefed so to senior leaders Jhala Nath Khanal and Madhav Kumar Nepal, CPN Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha and others during the meeting at his residence in Khumaltar Sunday morning. Many standing committee members of the Dahal-Nepal faction including Raghuji Panta, Bhim Rawal, Bhim Acharya, Beduram Bhusal, Gokarna Bista, Surendra Pandey, Ashta Laxmi Shakya, Mukunda Neupane, Yubaraj Gyawali, Barsha Man Pun, Matrika Yadav, Pampha Bhusal and others had also joined the meeting.
"No agreement has been reached. This is a thing that will weaken me. I have expressed disagreement. It has been brought out in a wrong manner," a standing committee member quoted Dahal as saying. "Unification process has yet to conclude. Membership will have to be decided and there should be debate about ideology. General convention cannot be held merely by announcing."
Dahal assured that he cannot move forward against the will of the leaders. He stated that the issue was only discussed in the secretariat meeting and he has yet to respond to that. He complained that an issue that has not been agreed has been publicized as an agreement.
"We only discussed yesterday. I have not said yes or no to that. I have already refuted that last night," another leader quoted Dahal as saying. "All this is sponsored. Nothing has happened."
Dahal conceded that Oli proposed to make him single chairman after the general convention if Oli were allowed to serve the full five years as PM, and pointed that he did not oppose the proposal for early general convention only because it would be inappropriate to do so.
He also claimed he went to meet the president suddenly and it was not pre-scheduled but did not reveal what transpired during the meeting with the president.
Dahal and Oli had left for the Shital Niwas immediately after the secretariat meeting on Saturday. CPN General Secretary Bishnu Paudel, Shankar Pokharel, Barsha Man Pun and Janardan Sharma had also accompanied the two chairmen to meet President Bidya Devi Bhandari.
