Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: A task force formed by the CPN-UML to review the party’s performance in the March 5 election and restructure the party has agreed not to seek Chairperson KP Sharma Oli’s resignation or removal, according to UML Secretary Maesh Basnet.
The task force also agreed not to criticize Oli in its report and to prioritize party unity, Basnet said after a meeting at the UML Central Office in Chyasal on Sunday.
He said an integrated draft report has been prepared by incorporating proposals and suggestions submitted by task force members following an earlier meeting in Balthali.
“Three leaders were assigned to prepare an integrated report incorporating all the draft proposals and suggestions put forward by members after the Balthali meeting. An integrated report was presented on Sunday, and we used it as the main basis for discussion,” Basnet told reporters after the meeting.
The task force had seen differing views over whether the report should call for Oli’s resignation. Basnet said the latest agreement was to leave any issue of immediate leadership change out of the report.
“There has been an agreement not to demand the chairperson’s resignation anywhere, not to talk about removing the chairperson anywhere and not to criticise the chairperson anywhere,” he said.
The task force also decided against calling a special general convention or special statute convention for now, Basnet said.
He said leadership change could naturally be discussed during the party’s regular general convention, while issues requiring changes to the party statute could be discussed at a statute convention.
The task force agreed to call a meeting of the National Representative Council to demonstrate party unity and revitalise the organisation, Basnet said. He added that the UML would launch a political movement against what he described as the “authoritarian, retaliatory, autocratic and anti-people” working style of the current government.
Earlier, separate proposals had emerged within the task force on election review and party restructuring. After differences emerged between proposals associated with task force coordinator Ram Bahadur Thapa and General Secretary Shankar Pokhrel, three leaders were assigned to consolidate them into a single report.
There had also been differences within the task force over leadership transition.
Party Secretary Rajan Bhattarai said a single report would now be presented to the party’s Central Committee.
Similarly, another party Secretary Chhabilal Bishwakarma said further discussions would be held before finalizing the report. He said the 29-page draft would be revised and adopted, while suggestions received from lower-level party committees would be incorporated as an annex.
The task force said suggestions received from 13 groups would also be incorporated into the report.
The final report is expected to be submitted through the party Secretariat to the Central Committee meeting scheduled for Monday.
