Miscellaneous
NC creates uncertainty over Nefin leadership
Uncertainty has loomed over new leadership in the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin) on the third day of its 9th General Convention after the ethnic organisation close to the Nepali Congress formed a new alliance with organizations close to the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the Sanghiya Samajwadi Forum Nepal.Uncertainty has loomed over new leadership in the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin) on the third day of its 9th General Convention after the ethnic organisation close to the Nepali Congress formed a new alliance with organizations close to the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the Sanghiya Samajwadi Forum Nepal.
Ethnic organisations close to the NC on Monday decided to field their own candidate for the top post breaking ‘gentlemen’s understanding’ reached with the UML to rotate power in the last convention. At the eighth general convention, the UML had supported incumbent Nefin Chairman Nagendra Kumal, an NC faithful.
“We have chosen Jagat Baram as chairman candidate. Friends from Maoist Centre and SSF-N have agreed to help in getting him elected, in return for supporting their candidates for other positions,” said Kumal. The NC had initially agreed to field Baram for position of general secretary. SSF-N leader Nityananda Tajpuriya will now be the common candidate of the new camp.
But senior Janajati leaders, including Nefin’s former chairman Om Gurung Maoist Centre leader Barsha Man Pun and SSF-N leader Rakam Chemjong, wooed the NC to change the camp to stop the UML from taking the helm of the Janajati organisation.
Though an autonomous non-partisan organisation, Nefin holds significance in national politics with its well-laid grassroots network across the country and huge influence on the ethnic communities at a time when the row deepens among the parties over the key issues including federalism.
Till Monday evening, Baram and Surya Bhujel appeared frontrunners for the top post. Bhujel and Rai represent the camp loyal to the UML, while Sherpa and Tajpuriya are close to the Maoist Centre and the SSFN respectively.
According to Kumal, also an NC parliamentarian, Baram is almost confirmed to be Nefin leader if other switch sides. However, Nefin General Secretary Pemba Bhote, a UML parliamentarian, has a different take on this. “We still have a chance. It’s hard to say what happens now as the closed door session has just started,” said Bhote.
The convention, scheduled to end on Monday, will elect a 13-member federal secretariat comprising a chairperson, five vice-chairpersons, a general secretary, five secretaries and a treasurer. Each of Nefin’s 56 member organisations will have a single vote in the election process. More than 420 representatives from 71 district councils and 22 countries are participating in the convention.
Sources said that strong lobbying from Nefin’s past office bearers, including Om Gurung, Pasang Sherpa and Suresh Ale Magar, to prevent UML loyalists from taking the organisation’s helm. These leaders, who are critical of Nefin’s incumbent leadership for failing to act strongly against what they call a discriminatory constitution, fear that electing UML loyalists would push the pro-identity movement into oblivion. Ethic organisations close to the Maoist Centre and the SSFN have spoken in favour of the ethnic identity.
Though critical of the new constitution, the Nefin office bearers stayed away from the anti-constitution protest despite pressure from Janajati leaders advocating for ethnicity-based federalism.