Leadership dispute in Nepal's UML intensifies — Kathmandu Post
In Nepal, an internal party dispute in the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), or CPN-UML, has escalated from a discussion about organizational changes into a challenge to party chair K. P. Sharma Oli. After the March 5 elections, which were unsuccessful for the party, a number of senior CPN-UML leaders called for changes to policy, structure and approaches to leadership transition, Kathmandu Post reports.
General Secretary Shankar Pokhrel proposed that Oli himself initiate a leadership transition as part of a broader party reorganization. Oli rejected the idea. At the same time, the party's task force decided not to include the issue of leadership change in its consolidated report, instead adding proposals from provincial structures and other bodies as an appendix.
The issue will be considered by the Central Committee
Deputy General Secretary Lekhraj Bhatta said that the issue of leadership change would be discussed by the Central Committee rather than considered as a recommendation in the task force report. The party Secretariat also decided to propose holding a meeting of the National General Convention Representatives Council.
The discussion intensified after 13 provincial and organizational meetings, at which the party collected assessments of the election results and its future course. Pokhrel, who served as secretary of the task force led by Vice Chair Ram Bahadur Thapa, prepared a report calling for large-scale reorganization. According to the publication, most provincial units, with the exception of Bagmati, proposed changing the party's policy and leadership.
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Different approaches to reorganization
In his separate report, Thapa considered it premature to raise the issue of leadership transition during a crisis and denied a link between party reorganization and Oli's removal. Pokhrel, Vice Chair Bishnu Paudel, Gokarna Bista and Yogesh Bhattarai disagreed with his position. Later, Pradeep Gyawali prepared a third document intended to reconcile the different positions.
Oli refers to the mandate received at the party's 11th General Convention in December 2025. Under Clause 72 of the CPN-UML statute, convening an extraordinary General Convention requires a written demand from two-thirds of district committees or a majority of members of the Representatives Council. There were 2,263 representatives at the 11th convention, meaning at least 1,132 people are needed for such a demand.
In September 2025, the party abolished the 70-year age limit for senior party positions, allowing Oli to run for another term. Pokhrel explained the need for changes by the need to establish a mechanism for the consistent development and transition of leadership between different generations.
