CPN-UML Vice-Chairman Bam Dev Gautam has decided to attend the central committee meeting called by Chairman KP Sharma Oli for Friday.
Gautam's secretariat stated that he will attend the meeting as invitation has been sent to attend it in capacity granted by the ninth general convention. Gautam's personal secretary Deepak Tamata told Setopati that he will attend the meeting as the party has pledged to return to the state before unification with CPN (Maoist Center) and called the central committee meeting accordingly.
Gautam has remained neutral in the factional war in the party since Oli first dissolved the House on December 20, 2020.
The Khanal-Nepal faction of UML has already decided to boycott the meeting.
UML dissolved the organizing committee for the 10th general convention. The organizing committee's meeting at Baluwatar on Wednesday decided to transform the committee into central committee. The central committee's meeting was then called for Friday as per the decision of the organizing committee.
UML Vice-Chairman Yuvaraj Gyawali told Setopati that the standing committee meeting of the faction on Thursday concluded that there is no meaning of attending the meeting called without the faction's consent
"Calling a meeting by an illegal committee is illegal in itself. We will, therefore, not attend such meetings," he stated. "We are for party unity. There should be initiative for that. Formal talks will have to start for that now."
Oli had unilaterally dissolved the central committee and formed the organizing committee after the Supreme Court (SC) invalidated the party's unification with CPN (Maoist Center) restoring the parties to the state before unification.
Oli has taken action against leaders of the Khanal-Nepal faction through the organizing committee even as the dissident faction has been demanding that the party be restored to the state before unification with Maoist Center.
Oli was under pressure to revive the central committee after the SC recently ruled that the organizing committee cannot take long-term decisions like the central committee.
The dissident faction, however, has called the Wednesday decision a sham and claimed it has been done as part of a conspiracy to cheat them pointing how it was taken unilaterally without consulting them.
