Ruling Nepali Congress (NC) has started homework to form central working committee including leaders who were defeated in the general convention and top leaders who did not contest.
Top leaders like Ram Chandra Paudel, Krishna Sitaula and others did not file candidacy in the general convention while others like Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar and Prakash Sharan Mahat were defeated.
Office-bearers including president, vice-presidents, general secretaries, joint general secretaries and treasurer are ex-officio members of the working committee, according to the party statute that states the president should propose names of 31 from among central members considering the principle of inclusion and that should be endorsed by majority.
The working committee must meet at least once a month and basically carries out three functions including taking emergency decisions when central committee cannot be convened, reviewing work of almost 50 party departments and holding discussion with coordinators of the topic-wise committees of the parliamentary party.
The decisions taken by the working committee will have to be endorsed by the central committee.
The NC central committee is currently 168-strong with President Sher Bahadur Deuba yet to nominate treasurer and 20 out of the 33 members he can nominate.
The party has already held two central committee meetings after the 14th general convention and is preparing to convene a virtual one most likely on Friday.
NC General Secretary Gagan Thapa told Setopati that the party will form working committee which will make functioning of the party easier.
The party has also yet to complete district convention in 16 districts that look unlikely to be held soon due to the raging pandemic. The virtual central committee meeting may also discuss about the sister organizations still being led by some who were elected central members of NC during the last general convention.
It will also discuss the local election and other contemporary political issues, according to Thapa. The faction of Shekhar Koirala and a few leaders even from the Deuba faction are for holding local election by May.
But coalition partners including CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN (Unified Socialist) want to push the local election to the end of year or even the next year amending the act related to local election pointing that it contradicts with the Constitution.
