Deposed Nepal PM Oli gets re-elected as CPN-UML chair for third term

Former Nepal prime minister KP Sharma Oli was elected CPN-UML chairman for a third consecutive term with a two-thirds majority at the party’s 11th general convention, consolidating his dominance despite his recent ouster from government after student-led protests

Kathmandu: Ousted Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was on Thursday elected as the CPN-UML’s chairman for the third consecutive term with a two-thirds majority.

Oli was elected the Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) chairman in a contest held three months after his government was forced to resign following a student-led protest.

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During the 11th general convention of the party that concluded on Thursday, Oli secured 1,663 votes against his opponent Ishwor Pokharel, who received 584 votes, according to party sources.

Pokharel, 71, had received the backing of former President Bidya Devi Bhandari, his rival in the presidential election.

The convention started with a public meeting in the Bhaktapur district and concluded with the election of Oli and other office bearers and central committee members of the party.

Shankar Pokhare, from Oli’s panel, was elected to the post of General Secretary of the party for the second term. He defeated Surendra Pandey, former finance minister, who contested the election from Pokharel’s panel.

Among 19 office bearers of the party, 17 were elected from Oli’s panel, while two were from Pokharel’s panel.

Prithvi Subba Gurung, Bishnu Paudel, Raghuji Panta, Ram Bahadur Thapa and Gokarna Bishta have been elected to the post of Vice President. Among them, only Gokarna Bishta is from Oli’s rival team.

Similarly, among three deputy general secretaries, Lekh Raj Bhatta, Yogesh Bhattarai and Raghubir Mahaseth, Bhattarai is from Pokharel’s team. All nine secretaries were elected from Oli’s team.

Hundreds of cadres belonging to Oli took out a victory procession in Kathmandu’s Bhrikutimandap, where the general convention was held, soon after the election results were out.

Oli has been in the top post of the party for more than a decade. He was elected to the party’s chair during the ninth and the tenth conventions as well with a comfortable majority.