KATHMANDU, Dec 16: Voting for the new leadership and office bearers of the CPM-UML during the ongoing 11th general convention of the party was postponed at the last minute on Tuesday evening.
After repeated delays, the voting was scheduled to take place at 8 pm on Tuesday night, but now has been rescheduled to begin at 8 am on Wednesday.
Citing the need to issue a special notice, the election committee asked general convention representatives—who had been standing in queues for a long time—to leave the lines and return to the hall.
Registration of candidates’ names in voting machines delays UML...
Addressing the representatives inside the hall, party leader Shankar Pokhrel informed them that voting would start only from 8 am on Wednesday due to technical reasons.
Before the postponement, the party’s two main candidates for the post of chairperson, KP Sharma Oli and Ishwar Pokhrel, were seen holding an extended and cordial discussion on the stage.
Earlier, voting had been scheduled to begin at 2 pm, but was later deferred to 7 pm and then to 8 pm.
Representatives, many of whom had remained in queues without meals, were called into the hall after it became clear that voting would not take place on Tuesday.
Preparations are now underway to begin the voting process from Wednesday morning at Bhrikutimandap.
A total of 42 candidates are in the fray for 19 office-bearer positions at the general convention. Altogether, more than 300 candidates are competing for various posts.
