KATHMANDU: CPN-UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel has said that the issue of former President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s party membership should not be viewed as an internal dispute within UML but rather as a clash between her aspiration to reclaim membership and the party’s institutional decision.
Speaking ahead of the second statute convention, which begins tomorrow in Godavari, Pokharel said the matter has been amplified outside the party even though it is essentially about setting a new precedent.
“Immediately after being elected President, she (Bhandari) gave up party membership in accordance with Nepal’s constitution,” Pokharel said. “The current situation is not an internal dispute within UML. It is a contradiction between the wish of someone who once held the country’s highest office to return to party politics and the party’s decision not to allow it. In time, this will help establish values and procedures within the party.”
He noted that since Nepal’s republican system is still in its first phase of practice, questions about how former heads of state should be reintegrated into politics are new. Bhandari’s attempt to re-enter active party politics, he said, has made the issue appear unusual.
Pokharel contrasted UML’s approach with that of the Maoists, who recently handed the role of vice-chair to a former vice president. “The Maoists are still political novices; their policies cannot provide leadership for Nepal,” he argued, adding that in Nepal’s democratic system, only the decisions of UML and the Nepali Congress carry real weight.
According to Pokharel, UML’s decision is about introducing a new constitutional principle, not simply following past political practice. “What may appear as contradictions are in fact differences in understanding this new value. It is not a policy dispute within the party, only minor disagreement over one decision,” he said.
He acknowledged that some leaders had expressed differing views in the Standing Committee and Central Committee, but emphasized that the statute convention would have the final say. “If two positions emerge at the convention, the matter will be decided by majority vote. The official party decision will be whatever is endorsed by the majority. Therefore, claims that UML has already barred dissent are baseless,” Pokharel said.
The second statute convention of UML will begin tomorrow in Godavari.
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