NC gives full shape to parliamentary board After several days of quiet but an intensive negotiations between the two rival factions within the party, the Nepali Congress (NC) on Monday gave full shape to the party´s parliamentary board, which is mandated to pick the poll candidates. A Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting held at party headquarters at Sanepa gave full shape to the crucial body, with the establishment faction agreeing to accomodate in it four additional members including Joint-General Secretary Purna Bahadur Khadka from the Deuba faction. All office-bearers including the president, the vice-president, the two general secretaries, the treasurer and the joint-general secretary are ex-officio members of the parliamentary board. With the agreement reached between the two sides and duly endorsed by the CWC meeting held later in the evening, Sher Bahadur Deuba, Bimalendra Nidhi, Gopal Man Shrestha and Joint-General Secretary Khadka from the Deuba faction are now in the board. Treasurer Chitra Lekha Yadav, who contested from the Deuba panel at the party´s 12th General Convention, is already an ex-officio member. Likewise, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Arjun Narasingh KC, Pharmullah Mansur, Ananda Dhungana and Sujata Koirala have been picked as members of the parliamentary board from the establishment faction. As the party´s parliamentary leader, who is also an ex-officio member of the 15-member body, is currently lying vacant due to the absence of parliament, the Koirala faction now has a total nine members and the Deuba faction a total of five. Party insiders said the nomination of Shashank Koirala, Dilendra Badu and Padma Narayan Chaudhary from the Koirala faction and Kul Bahadur Gurung as a common candidate from both factions were replaced at the eleventh hour after President Koirala found it difficult to appease dissenting leaders including Sujata Koirala and Arjun Narasingh KC. NC CWC member Dhan Raj Gurung said the formation of the long-awaited parliamentary board has paved the way for the NC to expedite the selection of poll candidates for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) election. “The first meeting of the parliamentary board has been called for Tuesday morning to kick-start the selection of poll candidates,” Gurung told Republica. Addressing the CWC meeting following the agreement to give full shape to the parliamentary board, NC President Koirala said that the upcoming election will go in favor of the NC as there is popular support for the party. “There could be magic this election. Do not be surprised if the Nepali Congress bags a two-third majority,” a leader quoted Koirala as saying. Koirala also stressed the need to contest the election unitedly, setting aside all manner of personal interests. “There has been pressure from various quarters over the nomination of poll candidates. The party will make judicious and balanced selections of poll candidates,” he said while asking all CWC members to work hard to garner the support of the general public for the NC. Likewise, senior leader Deuba told the meeting that there was a need to go to the poll in a united manner to ensure victory for the NC, given the agreement between the two sides. Deuba also pointed out the need to pick deserving and competent poll candidates through consensus. As per the adjustment made by the Election Commission in the calendar of events on Thursday, the political parties should file their nominations under the proportional electoral system on September 30 and under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system on October 3. The NC Central Office has already received recommendations from all 75 district units for a minimum of three candidates under FPTP and five candidates under the proportional system for each constituency. Four youth CWC members suggest selection criteria As the parliamentary board prepares to expedite the selection process for poll candidates from Tuesday, four youth CWC members of the NC have suggested to the board to give priority to candidates who have better chances of winning, irrespective of which faction they represent. In a written suggestion with their signatures, CWC members Dhan Raj Gurung, Gagan Thapa, Badri Pandey and Jiwan Pariyar have also asked the party´s top leadership to give priority to new faces and youth leaders. “We have also asked the party leadership to ensure at least one such candidate for each of the 240 constituencies under the proportional electoral system,” said Gurung. Altogether 335 members of the total 601 members are to be elected under the proportional electoral system. The youth CWC members have asked the parliamentary board to give priority to candidates who were subjected to hardship and torture due to armed conflict in the past, ensure representation of the ethnic and geographical diversity of the country, and to seek out candidates who have made a special contribution in national life. Among others, they have sought of the party leaders not to repeat the candidacies of those who failed to make it to parliament under the proportional electoral system in the previous election.
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 23:54:00 +0000