CPN (UML) has agreed to remove the age limit of 70 years and the two-term restriction for party officials from its statute. The party’s Central Secretariat meeting also decided to limit the number of office-bearers to 15.
The decision was reached after nearly 10 hours of deliberation during a Secretariat meeting held at the party headquarters in Chyasal, Lalitpur on Thursday. The meeting, which began at 1:45 PM, concluded late in the evening.
The Secretariat also proposed replacing the existing Secretariat structure with a Standing Committee and expanding the Central Committee to 251 members. The proposal, presented by Vice-Chairman Bishnu Paudel, head of the statute amendment task force, was passed with amendments.
The draft will now be presented to the Politburo meeting on Friday before being forwarded to the Central Committee. The final amendments will be endorsed at the party’s upcoming Statute Convention scheduled for the first week of September in Godawari, Lalitpur.
Previously, UML had faced internal disputes over the age ceiling and term limits for executive positions. While Paudel initially proposed an 11-member leadership, the meeting agreed on a 15-member panel.
Meanwhile, the Secretariat also discussed the return of former President Bidya Devi Bhandari to active politics within UML. Party Chairman KP Sharma Oli raised the issue, but no concrete decision was made.
The Politburo will meet on Friday at 1 PM to finalize the agenda for the Central Committee meeting scheduled for July 21. UML’s second Statute Convention will take place on September 5-7 in Godawari.
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