NEPALI CONGRESS PARTY (DEMOCRATIC) CONVENTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000102 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/10/2016 TAGS: PGOV NP SUBJECT: NEPALI CONGRESS PARTY (DEMOCRATIC) CONVENTION DECIDED MONARCHY AND DEMOCRACY INCOMPATIBLE Classified By: DCM Elisabath I. Millard, Reasons 1.4 (b/d). PARTY REMOVES "CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY" FROM STATUTE -------------- -------------- ¶1. (U) At its general convention January 5 to 9, the Nepali Congress (Democratic) Party (NC(D)) decided to remove the term "constitutional monarchy" from the party's statute. The NC(D) stated its position that elections to a constituent assembly were the only solution to the current political and constitutional crisis. The convention unanimously elected Sher Bahadur Deuba for a second term as President of the party. (Note: Deuba is currently in detention, convicted of corruption by the Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC). End Note.) FORMATION OF THE CENTRAL WORKING COMMITTEE IS DEMOCRATIC IN SUBSTANCE -------------- ¶2. (U) The general convention decided to form a 45-member Central Working Committee (CWC),26 of whom will be elected by the party with 18 members appointed by the party president. The party president will be the forty-fifth member of the CWC. (Note: Because the NC(D) was formed in 2002 as a splinter party from the Nepali Congress (NC),this is the first time it has elected CWC members. This is the first general convention after the split. End note.) The Party specified that the elected CWC members would include 18 general members and eight representing specific groups: two from ethnic minorities, two from the Madhesi (Terai) community, two women, one from the Dalit (low caste) community, and one from the remote Karnali Zone of north mid-western Nepal. The party held elections for the CWC during the convention. Although the results were not yet announced, the press reported that former CWC members were the front-runners. POSITIVE REACTION OF THE NC(D) ACTING PRESIDENT -------------- -- ¶3. (C) Gopal Man Shrestha, Acting President of the NC(D), told EmbOff that the decisions taken by the general convention were "progressive." Shrestha explained that the NC(D) dropped the term "constitutional monarchy" from the party's statute because since 1951 the Kings of Nepal had "betrayed the political parties." However, Shrestha commented that the Party would be ready to accept a ceremonial King, provided he pledged to remain a nominal head of state. Shrestha emphasized that the party had now accommodated ethnic communities, including women and dalits. He expressed satisfaction that the decisions of the general convention had made the NC(D) even more progressive than the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist). COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) With approximately 60 percent elected members in the CWC, the NC(D) president no longer has a monopoly. The new CWC has paved the way for more democratic processes within the NC(D) party as well as a more representative CWC. This stands in stark contrast with the NC, in which party President G.P. Koirala nominated the majority of CWC members. MORIARTY