The Nepali Congress is set to appoint former joint general secretary and current lawmaker Bhishma Raj Angdembe as the parliamentary party leader.
A party office-bearer told Setopati that a committee headed by Vice-president Bishwa Prakash Sharma held phased discussions with lawmakers and aspirants for the parliamentary party leadership. After these consultations, the committee recommended Angdembe’s name to party President Gagan Thapa for the position.
Thapa will inform the ongoing central committee meeting in Sanepa about this decision.
A previous meeting of the central committee had formed a panel comprising vice-presidents and general secretaries to forge consensus on the selection of parliamentary party leader. The committee is now set to present its recommendation at the meeting.
The central committee facilitated the selection process. However, the parliamentary party leader must be chosen by the lawmakers themselves.
According to the office-bearer, lawmakers are expected to endorse Angdembe’s name after holding discussions during a meeting on Monday afternoon.
Preparations are underway to announce the parliamentary party leader based on consensus at 1 p.m. The Nepali Congress has 38 lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
Angdembe was elected as a lawmaker under the proportional representation system. He was elected as joint general secretary from the panel led by former party president Sher Bahadur Deuba during the party’s 14th general convention held in 2021.
Both inside and outside Parliament, Angdembe has consistently supported the special general convention and the leadership that emerged from it. He has previously written on social media that he and his colleagues are under Gagan Thapa's leadership, requesting not to be labeled as belonging to any faction.
According to leaders, lawmakers from both Deuba and Shekhar Koirala factions told the committee led by Vice-president Sharma that they would also support Angdembe if he is proposed for the role of parliamentary party leader.
“Keeping broader party unity in mind, it was decided to propose Angdembe as the parliamentary party leader,” a party office-bearer said.
