KATHMANDU: On Friday, at the CPN (UML) Secretariat meeting held in Gundu, intense criticism was directed at Chairman KP Sharma Oli.

Party officials expressed that he should resign. However, just two days later, at the Sunday Secretariat meeting, that demand was subdued.

During Friday’s meeting, a proposal from the Oli faction to hold a quick general convention, along with dialogues initiated on Saturday, had dampened the calls for Oli’s resignation.

At the meeting, since Oli continuously maintained that he had done nothing wrong, the decision was made to hold a general convention soon and restructure the leadership.

This was the reason why the topic of his resignation was muted. A UML official stated, “On Saturday, the meeting was postponed, and Oli along with his close leaders held discussions.”

The Sunday meeting decided to forward the proposal to hold the general convention by mid-December to the Central Committee.

Immediately after Friday’s meeting, Oli-aligned leaders expressed a similar stance on social media, emphasizing the need to resolve all issues, including leadership, through a quick general convention.

After the September 8-9 protests, the demand for Oli’s resignation had grown louder within the UML. The protests had led to his removal from power.

When demonstrators attempted to enter the Prime Minister’s residence, Oli resigned and left via a military helicopter.

Ten days later, he appeared publicly in Gundu, Bhaktapur. Oli has consistently claimed that he was ousted through a conspiracy. He has also avoided taking responsibility for the incidents on September 8, when protestors were killed during the Gen Z movement.

This is not the first time Oli has used the general convention to deflect pressure to resign. Even during past disputes within the party, when he faced pressure to step down, he proposed holding a quick general convention to settle leadership issues. However, that proposal did not resolve internal disputes, eventually leading to the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the UML split.

Interestingly, while Oli dissolved the House twice during his reign, he now supports the reinstatement of Parliament. On Saturday, by postponing the meeting, he held discussions with UML Vice Chair Bishnu Paudel and Deputy General Secretary Prithvi Subba Gurung.

During Friday’s meeting, Vice Chairs Bishnu Paudel and Ram Bahadur Thapa argued that the earlier decision to prevent former President Bhandari from returning to party politics should be reversed.

In the Central Committee meeting held in July, Senior Vice Chair Ishwar Pokhrel and Vice Presidents Surendra Pandey and Yubaraj Gyawali had expressed disagreement with the decision to block Bhandari.

Among the Vice Chairs, only Guru Baral, General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, and Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali supported Oli at Friday’s meeting.

Vice Chairs Pandey, Gyawali, and Ashtalakshmi Shakya explicitly stated that Oli should resign. Gyawali and Shakya submitted a written opinion that leaders over 70 years old should step down.

At Monday’s meeting, UML Deputy General Secretary Bishnu Rimal stated that no alternative to Oli should be sought. In the last two meetings, Pokharel and Rimal openly supported Oli, unlike Baral and Gyawali.

While Senior Vice Chair Ishwar Pokhrel, Vice Chairs Paudel and Thapa raised the issue of leadership restructuring, leaders like Pandey, Gyawali, and Shakya did not clearly demand Oli’s resignation.

Although the leadership of UML’s transformation is expected to be taken by senior Vice Chair and officials, most leaders did not wish to challenge Oli before the general convention. They intend to wait until the convention.

In the Sunday meeting, Secretaries Gokarna Bista and Yogesh Bhattarai demanded that Oli should resign, and an acting chairperson should lead the party to the general convention.

Deputy General Secretary Prithvi Subba Gurung, Secretaries Lekhraj Bhatta, Chhabilal Bishwakarma, Raghubir Mahaseth, and Padma Aryal also expressed that even if party organization and leadership are restructured, the final decision on leadership should be made through the general convention.

The UML Central Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. Many believe the roles of Senior Vice Chair Pokharel, Vice Chair Paudel, and Deputy General Secretary Gurung will determine whether Oli faces a smooth or difficult path.