KATHMANDU, The CPN-UML has called a Secretariat meeting for 1 pm today (Friday) to finalize statute amendments and nominate representatives for the upcoming general convention.

The party is preparing to amend its statute to increase the number of office bearers and expand the central committee. UML had previously reduced office bearers from 19 to 15, scrapped the standing committee, downsized the politburo, and shrunk the central committee from 301 to 251 members during the second statutory general convention held in Lalitpur in September.

Chairman KP Sharma Oli is pushing for revisions after many leaders from his faction showed interest in key posts. Meanwhile, the group led by Senior Vice Chair Ishwor Pokharel, who is contesting for party Chair, is gearing up to demand the reinstatement of the two-term limit if amendments are introduced.

Earlier, Oli had halted a scheduled Secretariat meeting on Monday after submitting a concept paper, following objections from the Pokharel-led faction. The meeting was postponed by three days and is now being held just a day before the 11th general convention kicks off on Saturday.