Nepali Congress (NC) has commenced its 12th General Convention on Friday in Kathmandu.
This General Convention is to choose a new team of party leadership following the demise of party President and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.
According to party sources, about 3,000 party workers of various strata are scheduled to participate in the convention.
Leaders have been stressing on restoring their party strength lost in the Constituent Assembly elections held on 10 April 2010.
A new party Presidential candidate Bhim Bahadur Tamang, who claims to have represented a pro-change trend, says the convention would mean nothing without a big change in party leadership.
However, regressive trend geared towards the restoration of autocratic monarchy, has stood as a chief barrier to developing a new pro-change leadership—says a professor of political science.
Another leader and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba argues that his leadership in the NC is required to coordinate between the left-oriented and right-oriented lines.
The greatest challenge for the NC in this General Convention is to sort out the issue of the party’s’ democratic socialism’ as an ideological value, which has so far run counter to its essential meaning since the party has for long de facto adopted market economy and all-out privatization of all essential public service sectors, including health and education.