KATHMANDU: CPN-UML leader Pradeep Gyawali has expressed strong objection to a separate gathering held by a group close to senior leader Ishwar Pokhrel immediately after the party’s general convention, saying such a move was unexpected and against the spirit of party unity.
Without naming Pokhrel directly, Gyawali said the scenes witnessed in the days following the convention were disturbing, stressing that the general convention is the supreme authority of the party and its decisions must be treated as final.
“The separate meeting held by some comrades right after the general convention was not expected. The general convention is the party’s highest body. If its decisions are not considered final and ‘issues remain alive’ even after that, the party will turn into an endless debate club. This should not happen,” Gyawali wrote in a post, clearly targeting the Pokhrel faction.
He said there was a clear and logical reason for holding the general convention a year earlier than scheduled, questions raised by some leaders regarding the legitimacy, relevance, and acceptability of the leadership. According to Gyawali, the convention decisively addressed those questions and re-endorsed the leadership without ambiguity.
“Carrying the pre-convention baggage and walking the path of ‘two-line struggle,’ ‘resistance,’ and ‘hollow unity’ will lead nowhere,” he warned.
Gyawali said the party had been brought back on track within a short span of three months and argued that creating internal tensions at this stage was unnecessary.
He also urged party leaders and cadres to focus their collective energy on larger national responsibilities. “The fight to restore democracy that must be won, the struggle to protect the constitution that must succeed, and the journey toward stability, good governance, prosperity, and national dignity are still ahead,” he wrote, asking whether it was not time to concentrate fully on these priorities.
Commenting on recent remarks by former President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Gyawali said he was surprised by her statement suggesting that monarchy could be restored in Nepal. He questioned why confidence in the very political foundation she once stood on appeared to be wavering.
“Listening to the former president say that monarchy could be restored was astonishing,” he wrote, raising questions about the apparent erosion of faith in the republican system.
Gyawali’s remarks come amid renewed internal debate within the CPN-UML following the general convention, highlighting lingering factional tensions despite the party’s claim of renewed unity.
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