KATHMANDU: Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’, coordinator of the CPN-UML’s election review and party reorganization task force, has prepared a new 39-page report. This report replaces the 65-page draft previously prepared by General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, who serves as the task force’s member-secretary.

The 15-member task force was formed on May 24 to review the party’s electoral defeat. Pokharel’s initial draft had suggested that Chairman KP Sharma Oli should resign, take moral responsibility for the election loss, and call for a special general convention. The draft also proposed reinstating the 70-year age limit and two-term limit for leadership, while attributing the election results to Chairman Oli’s centralized working style.

Following dissatisfaction from Chairman Oli regarding the initial draft, the chairman directed coordinator Badal to prepare a revised version. The new 39-page report, titled ‘Common Resolution of CPN-UML for Party Strengthening, Transformation and Renaissance’, excludes all proposals regarding the resignation or replacement of the chairman. It declares that the debate over leadership change is closed, stating that attempts to remove a chairman elected with 75 percent of the votes at the 11th general convention are irrelevant.

Instead of blaming the chairman, the new report attributes the election defeat to incorrect reporting from lower-level committees and geopolitical conspiracies. Additionally, the report criticizes General Secretary Pokharel, alleging that he failed to appeal for the chairman’s release while the chairman was in custody, despite congratulating the new Prime Minister Balen Shah on March 20.

The move has highlighted internal friction within the CPN-UML. According to party leaders, General Secretary Pokharel is preparing to present his original 65-page draft during the task force meeting scheduled for Friday.