UML leaders clash over KP Sharma Oli's chairmanship and party reform

Following a major setback in the March 5 election, the CPN-UML’s internal debate shifted from broad organisational reform to a direct challenge of chair KP Sharma Oli’s continued leadership. Senior figures such as vice-chair Bishnu Paudel and general secretary Shankar Pokhrel argue that the party must overhaul its policies, structure and leadership to recover. Pokhrel’s task-force report asked Oli to initiate a leadership handover, a proposal Oli dismissed.

The task force subsequently stripped any leadership-change recommendation from its consolidated report, attaching provincial suggestions as an annex instead. The issue will now be taken up by the Central Committee, with the party secretariat planning to call a meeting of the National General Convention Representative Council. Legal hurdles in the UML statute mean that removing Oli would require a special general convention, a demanding process under Clause 72. The debate is notable because many of the reform-seeking leaders previously supported Oli at the 11th general convention in December 2025.