October 3: The proposed statute amendment of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) for selecting a new leadership took an unexpected twist on Wednesday. Three incumbent vice presidents of FNCCI and a former senior vice president demanded direct election of FNCCI president.  They also demanded scrapping the post of senior vice president.

Organising a press conference in the capital on Wednesday, FNCCI vice presidents Chandra Prasad Dhakal, Kishor Kumar Pradhan and Umesh Lal Shrestha and former senior vice president Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar demanded statute amendment to ensure directly elected president from the upcoming term.

The statute amendment committee of the FNCCI headed by Dhakal has already submitted an amendment proposal with suggestions to the central committee of the federation.

FNCCI has called a special general assembly on November 15 to discuss this issue. A 35-point proposal will be submitted during the special general assembly for the statute amendment.

The FNCCI has been sharply divided into two poles for the upcoming election as the three-year term of current president Bhawani Rana comes to an end within a few months. The special general assembly will decide on the date of the election.

Former president Dhakal is hell bent on not allowing Senior Vice President Shekhar Golchhal from leading the federation. The current statute has the provision for the senior vice president becoming the president without any opposition. Other former presidents of FNCCI have been backing Golchha.

Dhakal and his associates have demanded statute amendment with the sole intention of not letting Golchha take the helm of FNCCI. It was on Dhakal’s initiative that the statute was amended earlier to allow the senior vice president to automatically take charge of the federation.