The CPN-UML has revived its old statute.
Despite opposition from Senior Vice-chairman Ishwar Pokharel and leaders from his faction, the central committee meeting held on Sunday at Bhrikuti Mandap decided to proceed with the 11th general convention by retaining the old statute.
Neither Chairman KP Sharma Oli nor any of the office-bearers tabled a proposal for statute amendment during the meeting.
Politburo and standing committee members from the Oli faction proposed and passed the statute amendment, arguing that the party should move forward according to the old statute.
While the UML statute general convention held in September had reduced the number of office-bearers and central committee members, the party will now revert to the old structure for both.
According to leader Sher Bahadur Tamang, the central committee decided to implement a structure with one chairperson, five vice-chairpersons, one general secretary, three deputy general secretaries, and nine secretaries. The position of senior vice-chairman has been removed for now.
Furthermore, it was decided that the standing committee will consist of one-third of the politburo members, the politburo will have 99 members, and the central committee will have 301 members.
Senior Vice-chairman Pokharel, Vice-chairpersons Surendra Pandey, Ashta Laxmi Shakya, Yuvaraj Gyawali, Deputy General Secretary Gokarna Bista, Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai, and leaders Karna Thapa and Kashinath Adhikari, among others, protested the revival of the old statute. Among them, Adhikari is close to Chairman Oli.
