Senior Advocate Challenges Legality of Nepali Congress Special General Convention

Kathmandu. In the ongoing dispute regarding the official status of the Nepali Congress, Senior Advocate Ekraj Pokharel has questioned whether a special general convention possesses the authority to elect new leadership.

Challenging the legitimacy of granting official status to Gagan Thapa under the guise of a special general convention, Senior Advocate Pokharel stated, 'Once a complaint is filed with the commission, there is no authority to make a unilateral decision without resolving the matter.'

During the hearing held on Thursday before the Supreme Court bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Nripadhwaj Niraula, Senior Advocate Pokharel, representing petitioner Sher Bahadur Deuba, argued that the General Secretary lacks the sole authority to make party decisions, and therefore, the Election Commission should not have granted official party status to the Gagan Thapa faction.

The position of President only becomes vacant through a two-thirds vote of no-confidence, Senior Advocate Pokharel noted, adding, 'There is no legal basis for a special convention to fill a vacant presidential seat.'

Asserting that it is illegal for a special general convention to replace not only the President but the entire working committee, Pokharel stated, 'The two General Secretaries, who previously signed minutes declaring the relevance of a special general convention to be over, are now bound by their own actions. There is no justification for calling a special general convention based on a unilateral decision after having signed those minutes.'