KATHMANDU, Sept 22: Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli are under growing pressure to relinquish their leadership roles following the Gen Z movement. Second-rung leaders and cadres of the NC are preparing to collect signatures to call a special convention for a leadership change. UML leaders are also intensifying demands for a leadership transition and have begun gatherings and discussions. Party members plan to submit a written proposal urging Oli to resign as chairman.
UML leaders held meetings and discussions at various levels over the past two days to push party transformation. “As pressure mounts for leadership change in UML, senior leaders have joined the discussions,” a party official said.
NC leaders have held similar meetings since Wednesday. Some groups have decided to launch a signature campaign demanding a special convention for party reform. The Gen Z movement has fueled these calls for leadership change in major parties.
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On Wednesday, leaders met at NC leader Narayan Bhattarai’s contact office in Bijulibazar, Kathmandu, to discuss a signature campaign for a special convention. Since then, internal discussions have continued in various circles. On Thursday, another meeting at leader Guru Ghimire’s Anamnagar-based contact office, attended by some central members, concluded that convention representatives should collect signatures to demand a special convention.
NC leaders gathered again on Friday at Anupam Foodland in Baneshwar. Leaders including Ajay Babu Shivakoti, Pratima Gautam, Ujjwal Baral, and Kiran Giri stressed that convention delegates must collect signatures to demand a special convention.
Within NC, general secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma have actively engaged in discussions on party restructuring and leadership change. Thapa said he is ready to resign from his post to advance reform. “Continuing the status quo will not bring reforms within the party. For fundamental reform, we must be ready to step down and take risks,” he said. “I am ready to leave my post as general secretary. Let us start discussions, accept our mistakes, and commit to introspection, reevaluation, and transformation.”
Central member Shivakoti confirmed that pro-special convention leaders and cadres are meeting to demand for a change. “We have decided to start a signature campaign demanding a special convention,” he said.
At the Anamnagar meeting, leaders including Ghimire, Devraj Chalise, Bijay Kayastha, Hurmat Neupane, Indra Rijal, Medini Sitoula, and Tekraj Paudel joined more than 200 others. Participants suggested that the party president, office bearers, and central members resign to ease the transformation process.
In a full committee meeting, Ghimire stressed that NC needs a leadership change, saying reform is impossible without it. He and others had called on Deuba to step down even before the Gen Z movement.
Similar discussions are underway in UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre). UML sources say members are preparing a written proposal urging Oli to resign. “The party cannot move forward under Oli’s leadership. It is time to develop new leadership,” a source said. “A formal proposal for Oli’s resignation will be submitted in the party meeting,” said a leader.
Senior Vice-Chairman Ishwar Pokharel, Vice-Chairpersons Surendra Pandey, Yubaraj Gyawali, and Asta Laxmi Shakya, Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai, and leaders including Karna Bahadur Thapa and Gokul Baskota have all sought an alternative to Oli and urged him to remain only as a guardian figure.
