Kathmandu. CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has completely ruled out former President Bidya Devi Bhandari returning to politics.
During the closing address to the three-day central committee meeting, he linked the former President’s return to politics to the renewal of her membership.
Recalling that Bhandari was given the honor of ‘Republican Pride’, Oli expressed the view in the meeting that she should remain above party politics.
Citing Articles 8 and 9 of the party statute, he said that the renewal of former President Bhandari’s membership was flawed.
‘According to Articles 8 and 9 of our party statute, the renewal of the former President’s organized membership is flawed,’ he said. ‘Her organized membership cannot be renewed until the party decides. The renewal is possible only after the party has made a new decision when she has resigned.
Bhandari had announced her return to politics on Ashad 14 with preparations to take over the leadership of the party from the 11th general convention. But the UML has pulled the strings of the provisions of the statute and put a stop to it.
What is in Articles 8 and 9 of the statute?
Oli announced on Tuesday night that he would stop Bhandari, citing Articles 8 and 9 of the party’s statute. Article 8, clause (1), ‘a’, states that party membership will end, ‘if the membership is voluntarily resigned.’
Clause 3 of the same article states, ‘If a person who has voluntarily resigned from membership wants to re-join, he can re-join after starting the process.’
The UML has decided to prevent Bhandari from entering politics, arguing that the process for re-joining should be started from the beginning with the conclusion that Bhandari voluntarily resigned from membership after becoming the president for the first time.
Clause (3) of Article 9 further states, ‘Even if a member assigned by the party for a special task is not organized in any committee or body, his membership shall remain intact.’
Chairman Oli and those close to him have argued that Bhandari voluntarily resigned from the membership and should go through the initial process to become a member again. Bhandari, on the other hand, has said that since the party sent her on a special responsibility, she had already renewed her membership on 1 Baisakh 2081 after that ended.
The UML, which has been strict in Bhandari’s case, has not implemented this provision in the case of other leaders. The late Subash Nembang, who rose from the chairman of the Constituent Assembly to the speaker, and the chairman of the National Assembly, Ganesh Prasad Timalsina, did not stop the UML from returning to the party. Nembang resigned from the party membership and later renewed it and was elected vice-chairman at the 10th National Convention.