Top leaders of Nepali Congress have agreed to increase the number of party office bearers and size of Central Working Committee (CWC) in a new provision, ending the long-running dispute over the amended party statute.

The new provision means the rights and powers of the Nepali Congress president has been sharply curtailed, including the power to nominate a vice-president, general secretary and joint general secretary. Under the provision, the party president can only appoint the treasurer that must be elected among the Central Working Committee members.   

Tuesday’s meeting of senior party leaders from both the Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Poudel factions reached a deal to increase the number of office bearers to seven from the current six. The CWC is expected to endorse the deal on Wednesday. Once approved by the CWC, the new party charter will be tabled at the Mahasamiti meeting for final approval. Mahasamiti is the NC’s apex body that holds the right to approve any changes to the party charter.  

The size of the CWC will be expanded from the current 88 to 161 in new set up, including seven office bearers.  

According to NC leader Ramesh Lekhak, except for the post of treasurer, seven other positions—one party president, two vice-presidents, two general secretaries and two joint general secretaries—will be elected from the party’s General Convention.

“Some of the provisions will be implemented now, where as provision on the party officer bearers and CWC will come into effect only after the next General Convention,”  said Lekhak.

As per the agreement between the Nepali Congress brass, 54 CWC members will be elected from the women, Dalit, Janajati, Tharu, Madhesi, Muslim clusters and 21 from seven Provinces, with at least one female member.

Likewise, 35 CWC posts will be filled through an open competition. Twenty percent of 161 CWC members or 33 members will be nominated by the party president after the General Convention. Nine open posts are allocated for women in the open competition. One CWC member each will be elected from the backward community and differently-abled group.  

Ruckus in the meeting

The party leaders may have agreed on a draft document, but it still needs to be approved by the CWC and Mahasamiti meetings which, NC leaders say, could extend for another two days.

Party Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma said that the Yagamber Party Palace, where the meeting is taking place, has been booked until Wednesday. “The meeting will take place at the party headquarters in Sanepa from Thursday,” he told a press conference on Tuesday, adding that the meeting could be extended by up to three days.

Originally scheduled to conclude on Tuesday, the meeting had to be extended as the leaders could not forge a consensus on the party statute.

The meeting, which was disrupted for a few hours by district presidents demanding that the draft of party charter be presented in the afternoon, resumed at 3pm.

No sooner party President Sher Bahadur Deuba announced the commencement of the meeting, the district presidents climbed onto to the stage and created a ruckus demanding that the charter be presented before the meeting starts.

Deuba immediately announced the postponement of the meeting.

The district presidents agreed to allow the meeting to resume following a discussion at Parliamentary Party Office in Singha Durbar.

A minor confrontation broke out when leader Prakash Sharan Mahat snatched the microphone from Nuwakot district President Jagdish Narsingh KC.