-Seven-member Election Fund Generation Committee
-Calls CWC meeting for Friday to discuss poll-related issues
KATHMANDU, Aug 17: As part of its decision to gear up the campaign for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) election, the Nepali Congress (NC) has directed all its 75 district committees to recommend names for candidates for each election constituency in their respective districts, along with other suggestions, by September 5.
A meeting of party office bearers, including senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, held at party headquarters at Sanepa on Saturday also directed the party´s district committees to send the lists of names of office bearers of the party´s district, electoral constituency, municipal, ward, village and election booth committees to the party central office. This is to ascertain that the party´s organizational base is intact and functioning in all parts of the country. [break]
The decision of the NC to direct its district committees to recommend names for the party´s election candidates comes in the wake of dissenting parties, including the alliance of 33 agitating parties led by the CPN-Maoist, giving their nod to participation in the fresh CA poll now scheduled for November 19.
As per the NC statute, each electoral constituency-level committee of the party recommends a maximum of three names for election candidacy, and these are later endorsed and sent to the party´s Central Working Committee along with necessary suggestions. One name from among those recommended by the district committee is picked by the Parliamentary Board due to be formed by the NC.
The decision of the party office bearers´ meeting to ask the district committees to recommend names for poll candidates partly allays serious concerns among party rank and file that the nomination of the party´s candidates may not be fair as the top leaders at the center exercise undue influence over the nomination process in order apparently to pick their ´own´ candidates.
The office bearers´ meeting also decided to form a seven-member Election Fund Generation Committee under the leadership of the party´s president, Sushil Koirala. The committee includes senior leader Deuba, Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel, Treasurer Chitra Lekha Yadav and central working committee members Ram Krishna Tamrakar, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and Deep Kumar Upadhyay as members.
Also, the office bearers´ meeting on Saturday decided to constitute a 15-member Constituent Assembly Election Manifesto Drafting Committee under the convenorship of Vice-president Paudel. The number of members in the Manifesto Drafting Committee is subject to change as per need, according to a press statement issued by the NC.
The Manifesto Drafting Committee includes CWC members Gopal Man Shrestha, K. B. Gurung, Bimalendra Nidhi, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Arjun Narsingh KC, Mahesh Acharya, Narahari Acharya and Dr Narayan Khadka as members. CWC members Dr Minendra Rijal, Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, Meena Pandey, Man Bahadur Bishwakarma, Gagan Kumar Thapa and Badri Pandey are also members of the Drafting Committee.
Earlier, the NC had decided to prepare an election manifesto on the basis of suggestions received from the party´s Mahasamiti members, during the Mahasamiti meeting held in Nawalparasi in April. The Vice-president Paudel-led committee has already finalized the party´s political paper as per suggestions received from the Mahasamiti members.
NC spokesperson Dilendra Badu said the CWC meeting called for Friday as decided by the office bearers´ meeting, will finalize the election manifesto. "We settled various political and other issues concerning the new statute during our Mahasamiti meeting in Nawalparasi. Mahasamiti members have offered various suggestions to be incorporated in the election manifesto," said Badu. "We will finalize the subject matter to be included in the manifesto after including whatever suggestions come from the central committee members."
Badu said Friday´s CWC meeting will also take other necessary decisions to gear up the election campaign. These include mobilizing party cadres across the country and preparing publicity material for the election. "We are holding talks with the dissenting parties in the belief that they would all participate in the poll on the stipulated date. The election will be held on the scheduled date of November 19," he said.
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