Senior Vice-chair of the CPN-UML, Ishwar Pokharel, has expressed disagreement over the nomination of representatives for the party’s 11th national congress.

According to Pokharel’s secretariat, the 108 national congress representatives nominated on Friday were based on a list proposed by party chair KP Sharma Oli, to which Pokharel has raised objections.

Rajesh Rai, who heads the publicity wing aligned with Pokharel, said the senior vice-chair had serious reservations about the nominations. Rai stated that during the Secretariat meeting held a day earlier, there was an understanding that the list of 108 representatives would be finalised jointly by Chair Oli and Senior Vice-Chair Pokharel. He added that discussions were scheduled for Friday morning in line with that agreement. However, Pokharel has said the list was published unilaterally, contrary to the earlier understanding.

Pokharel, who is also a contender for the party chair, had on Friday submitted a separate list of nominees from his group, Rai said, adding that it was agreed to seek consensus between the two lists.

“The list made public today is only the one tabled earlier by the party chair,” Rai said.