The leaders aired their differing views at the meeting which was called to discuss the proposed amendment in the PP´s statute as per the recommendation of a team formed by the PP some time ago.[break]
Leaders close to party chairman and Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal proposed that the PP leader and deputy leader be elected by the parliamentary party and the chief whip and whip be nominated by the PP leader.
But lawmakers close to former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Sharma Oli were for electing not only the PP leader and deputy leader but also the chief whip and the whip. "The party´s statute clearly says that all appointments, including the chief whip and whip, must be made through election. The PP can´t take any decision in contravention to the party statute," said Prthivi Subba Gurung.
But other leaders said the PP can formulate and amend its statute and implement it by getting it endorsed through the central committee which is the all-powerful body of the party. "The party´s statute states that the PP can formulate its statute and implement it after endorsing it through the CC. Therefore, we proposed electing only PP leader and deputy leader in the new amendment," said Dhirendra Shrestha.
He said nomination of chief whip and whip by the PP leader is more rational as they have to issue whips to the lawmakers as per the instruction from the PP leader. "If the chief whip and whip don´t work as per PP leader´s instruction, the parliamentary party can´t function properly," Shrestha said.
Owing to the same dispute, the ruling party´s PP has failed to elect party secretary Shankar Pokharel as deputy PP leader even though the party´s standing committee recommended him for the post weeks ago.
Khanal is believed to have relatively strong command in the parliamentary party compared to the party´s central committee, in which the chairman´s rivals Nepal and Oli jointly command majority.
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