Ram Kumar Kamat

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Kathmandu, July 22

The CPN-Maoist Centre’s Secretariat meeting today decided to make directly elected executive chief its poll agenda in the next general elections.

CPN-MC leader Mani Thapa said the party decided to go for either a directly elected president or prime minister. Although the party had championed directly elected president in the past, it had now chosen to go for either a directly elected president or prime minister. In the past, the CPN-UML had also advocated a directly elected prime ministerial system. The new constitution has adopted parliamentary form of government.

“We are of the view that directly elected executive chief will be better for ensuring stability, promoting development and national unity,” Thapa said. He added that the party would urge all parties to support its agenda of directly elected executive chief. He also said the party would forge poll alliance with change-seeking parties that were part of the alliance that launched the popular movement in 2006.

The CPN-MC will also form People’s Council at the local levels to work as opposition force so as to prevent local governments from misusing power or acting beyond their legal briefs. The CPN-MC will name candidates who have lost elections in such structures.

The meeting concluded that the CPN-UML had won majority of local levels in the first and second phase of local elections not because of its performance but due to collusion with the old political forces that were opposed to agendas of change. “We think international forces that oppose agendas of change in Nepal also aided the UML,” Thapa said, adding that his party saw the UML as an outfit that did not support leftist agendas.

Thapa said the local poll results showed that the CPN-MC was the only force that represented the voice of those who favoured the agenda of change. “We also decided to appeal to Baburam Bhattarai, Netra Bikram Chand and Mohan Baidhya to return to the CPN-MC,” he added. Thapa said the party also decided to enhance the role of Young Communist League before provincial and general elections.

The CPN-MC also decided to reduce the size of the 4,000-member general convention to fewer than 100. CPN-MC Spokesperson Pampha Bhusal said the party would hold its meetings of provincial committees in the next three weeks and convey today’s decision on the number of General Convention members.

The party also instructed its provincial committees to form three-member panels to probe allegations of sabotage in the first and second phase of local elections and submit their reports by September 1.

A version of this article appears in print on July 23, 2017 of The Himalayan Times.

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