Guru Baral
Leader-Nepali Congress
Special General Convention weakened NC, we are preparing for parallel general convention: Guru Baral
Gagan Thapa not getting time to meet Deuba is an attempt to ‘media’s rhetoric’ and ‘defamation’: Guru Baral
Kathmandu. At a time when preparations are underway for the 15th general convention within the Nepali Congress, the dispute over the legality of the special general convention is pending in the review bench of the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Nepali Congress leader Guru Baral has claimed that the special general convention has pushed the party to the weakest situation in its history.
After the Election Commission gave legitimacy to the leadership formed after the special convention, a faction within the party went to the Supreme Court against it. Although the court upheld the decision of the commission, the case is now pending in the full bench of the Supreme Court after a review petition was filed against it. In the midst of this process, both sides are continuing the preparations for the general convention.
Talking to Nepal News Bank, Baral said that the legal battle for review of the EC’s decision to validate the special general convention was against the constitution, Act and party tradition.
According to him, even though there is political disagreement with the decision of the division bench, they respect it and expect justice through the legal process. “We are confident that the Supreme Court will give legitimacy to the 14th Congress and pave the way for moving towards the 15th Congress,” he said. Baral stressed that the dispute within the party should be resolved through unity instead of making it a matter of victory and defeat. He accused them of repeatedly trying to hold talks with the leadership in Sanepa but they were ignored.
“Pushing this dispute forward in the form of someone’s victory and defeat will weaken the party in the long run. Our conclusion is that a weak Congress cannot save both democracy and nationalism,” he said.
Questioning the legitimacy of the special convention, Baral also argued that it has not given the expected results to the party. He said that the leadership that emerged from the special convention had suffered defeat in the elections and claimed that it has reduced the political status of the Congress.
Raising serious questions about the role of the Election Commission, Baral also alleged that there was a ‘setting’ in the commission. He, however, made it clear that he was not willing to make such allegations against the Supreme Court. “I claim that the Election Commission has a set-up. But even if we have a political disagreement with the Supreme Court’s decision, we respect it as a party that upholds the rule of law,” he said.
He said that both sides will continue their political activities until the court order is issued. He said that although they had expected that the preparations for the 15th general convention would be stopped until the Supreme Court takes a final decision on the review case, parallel preparations have become necessary as the court did not see the need to stop it immediately. According to Baral, the central committee meeting to be held on September 17 will announce the new schedule and formally prepare for the parallel general convention. “We will take whatever decision the Supreme Court takes. But until the court asks for a stay, the political activities will continue,” he said.
He also commented on the criticism targeted at party President Sher Bahadur Deuba and accused some leaders of trying to defame Deuba in a planned manner. He termed the fact that Gagan Thapa did not get time to meet Deuba as ‘media outrage’.
“There is no need for the general secretary to hold a press conference to meet the president. The propaganda that he has not been given time is artificial,” he said. Baral claimed that the atmosphere of trust in the party has weakened and said that the dialogue has become difficult as the leadership has behaved against the commitment time and again. He said that Dr. Shashank Koirala has been continuously making efforts for the unification and said that the possibility of unity is still not over.
During a conversation with News Bank, he explained the continuous natural disasters in the country by linking them to political and social introspection. Stating that floods, landslides and other disasters have caused huge loss of life and property in recent years, he argued that the time has come for Nepal’s political parties and society to ‘course correction’.
Baral also mentioned the context of a big disaster after the incident of sweating in the temple of Palanchok Bhagwati
Baral said that the cultural and spiritual aspects of Nepal should not be ignored.
“The question has been raised whether we have disturbed the balance with nature and society in the name of development and reform. The political parties should also introspect and return in the right direction,” he said.
He reiterated that it would not be in the interest of the country for the Congress to split at the time of the current national crisis and reiterated his party’s stand that after the final verdict of the Supreme Court, the party should be taken forward through the same legal process. However, he said that the preparation for the parallel general convention has become a political compulsion as the present leadership does not seem ready for it.
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