A Secretariat meeting was held on Sunday night to discuss leadership changes within the CPN-UML party. Party Deputy General Secretary Lekhraj Bhatt expressed confidence that the meeting would energize party ranks and the general public. He stated, “The debate concluded with this meeting. Regardless of the report submitted by the task force, there will be further discussions. The matter will be decided by the Central Committee.”
According to Mahesh Basnet, close secretary to Chairman KP Sharma Oli, all proposals put forward by the chairman were passed unanimously. The task force, chaired by Rambahadur Thapa, is expected to submit a report on election review within one month. Basnet added, “The meeting’s spirit is primarily to strengthen the chairman moving forward.”
However, a leader in favor of leadership change described the formation of the task force as the formal beginning of change in Oli’s leadership. Many leaders, including Oli, were elected at the general convention held five months ago. Leaders close to Oli commented, “We have just emerged from the general convention. I do not think there is an immediate need for a special general convention.”
Following opposition within the Secretariat, Oli’s faction appears to be relying on the Central Committee. Another central committee member close to Oli, Kiran Paudel, indicated that discussions would reach the Central Committee. He said, “Various issues regarding preparations for a special general convention had been raised earlier.” Because Oli’s close leaders have faith in resolving matters through legal processes and party bodies, the current process has been paused.
