CPN (UML) Chairman and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is scheduled to address the newly elected officials and members of the Pravasi Nepali Manch, also known as the Diaspora Nepali Manch, today, with the party's central office set to host the event. Oli's address is planned for 1 pm, according to News of Nepal, and will follow the swearing-in of the organization's new leadership. The programme crowns a leadership process that unfolded at the Manch's second international convention, held earlier this week in Kathmandu on Kartik 18 and 19, where Prabhuram Thapa was elected unopposed as chairman while the remaining positions were put to election.

Thapa Elected Unopposed to the Top Post

Prabhuram Thapa's election to the chairmanship of the UML-affiliated organization stood out for the absence of a contest. According to a report by Nepal Press, published as the convention's electoral process got under way, Thapa was elected unopposed as chairman of the Pravasi Nepali Manch. With no rival candidate in the race for the top post, the leadership question at that level was settled without a ballot.

The chairmanship, however, was the only position resolved without voting when the report was filed. Nepal Press's convention coverage simultaneously laid out the contests for the other offices, detailing who was in the running for which position within the Manch's International Committee. Those remaining posts were to be decided through elections, meaning the fuller shape of the new leadership team was being completed through the ballot even as the outcome for chairman was already clear.

Inside the Second International Convention

The electoral exercise formed the core business of the Manch's second international convention, a two-day gathering organized by the organization's International Committee in Kathmandu on Kartik 18 and 19. The convention brought the diaspora affiliate of the CPN (UML) together in the capital for its leadership election, with the chairman's post and the remaining offices on the agenda, and the results have now set up the new team preparing to take the oath of office.

As its designation suggests, the Kathmandu meeting was the second time the Manch convened an international convention, and this edition was tasked with producing an elected leadership for the organization's international body. The unopposed election of the chairman, alongside competitive races for the other positions, gave the convention both a consensus outcome at the top and ballots to settle the rest of the ticket, a combination that shaped coverage of the event. Nepal Press reported the election result on November 5, with News of Nepal following up a day later with details of the swearing-in ceremony and the party chairman's scheduled address.

Swearing-in Ceremony and Oli's Address Today

Attention now shifts to today's programme at the CPN (UML) central office, where the newly elected leadership of the Manch is scheduled to be sworn in. Oli, the party's chairman and a former prime minister, is then slated to address the gathering at 1 pm. News of Nepal reported the schedule, noting that the address is directed at the newly elected officials and members of the organization following their assumption of office.

Key details at a glance

  • Occasion: Swearing-in of the newly elected leadership of the Pravasi Nepali Manch
  • Address by: CPN (UML) Chairman and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli
  • Time: 1 pm today
  • Venue: The CPN (UML) central office
  • Audience: Newly elected officials and members of the Manch
  • New chairman: Prabhuram Thapa, elected unopposed at the second international convention

The Manch's Place in the UML Structure

The Pravasi Nepali Manch is the sister organization of the CPN (UML) oriented toward Nepalis living outside the country, and its International Committee functions as the elected body at the international level of that diaspora-facing organization. The second international convention, and the leadership election conducted through it, therefore determines who will guide the organization's work among the Nepali diaspora for its new term. The unopposed election of Thapa as chairman, coupled with the ballot-decided remaining posts, completes the process of constituting that leadership team.

For the incoming office-bearers, today's oath ceremony marks the point at which the convention's results translate into formal responsibility, and Oli's address stands as the centrepiece of the programme at party headquarters. The leadership lineup that takes the oath, headed by Thapa and rounded out through the elections held for the remaining positions of the International Committee, will assemble at the central office where the party chairman is scheduled to speak at 1 pm, formally opening the new term of the Manch's international leadership.