CPN-UML Secretariat Meeting Delayed Amidst Leadership Detention

Kathmandu. Leaders are continuing to arrive for the CPN-UML Secretariat meeting. The meeting, which was scheduled to convene at 11 AM at the party office in Chyasal, has not yet started. This marks the second time the CPN-UML Secretariat meeting is being held since the party chairman, KP Sharma Oli, was arrested for allegedly suppressing the Jyanji movement. The Secretariat meeting held last Saturday, chaired by Vice Chairman Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal on the day of Oli's arrest, had finalized protest programs.

Oli, who was the Prime Minister during the Jyanji movement, and Congress leader Ramesh Lekhak, who was the Home Minister, were both arrested by police early Saturday morning from their respective residences. On Sunday, the Kathmandu District Court permitted the police to keep them in custody for five days for investigation. Furthermore, a show-cause order has been issued regarding the habeas corpus petition.

CPN-UML has been criticizing this arrest as illegal and retaliatory. CPN-UML mass organizations have been staging protests in districts including the Kathmandu Valley demanding Oli's release. Additionally, CPN-UML decided to engage in dialogue with all parties advocating for democracy and the rule of law, and to collaborate with civil society and the general public. Vice Chairmen Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal, Bishnu Paudel, and Gokul Bista were entrusted with this responsibility.