STALEMATE IN NEPAL: DAHAL RULES OUT WITHDRAWAL OF CANDIDACY
Nepal News (Wednesday, 25 August 2010)
The United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [UCPN (Maoist)] seems to lack unanimity on the issue of resolving the issue of a Prime Minister in Nepal.
The United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [UCPN (Maoist)] central committee meeting, which resumed on August25, 2010 after being postponed thrice since August 12, is all set to see divided opinions over the policies and the future strategies of the party with two vice chairmen Mohan Baidya and Dr Baburam Bhattarai, presenting separate proposals that are seen as a ‘counter’ to party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal political report.
Leaders of Unified CPN (Maoist) at the party’s central committee meeting, Baidya and Bhattarai tabled their written proposals at the CC meeting simultaneously after Dahal presented his draft, saying Dahal prepared it without consulting other party leaders and that it could not address the viewpoints of all leaders in the party. Generally, chairman (or general secretary) prepares the political dossier in a communist party. Dahal had prepared his dossier during his overnight stay at a resort in Dhulikhel in the weekend.
Maoist spokesperson Dinanath Sharma confirmed that the two vice chairmen had filed their political dossiers at the party secretariat, but refused to call them ‘separate dossiers’.
“They are not separate proposals, but supplementary proposals,” said Sharma. “Leaders can put different views at the central working committee verbally or in writing. This time they have put their views in writing.”
In his political document, Dahal has stated the party would not quit the ongoing prime ministerial race even if the PM election goes up to tenth round, sources said. He has attributed the failure to elect new PM to the flaws of parliamentary system.
Dahal, who is in the prime ministerial race, has also blamed Indian ‘intervention’, parliamentary parties and the sections within the Maoist party for the failure to form a Maoist-led government.
Similarly, vice chairman Baidya in his draft has emphasized the need to consolidate the republican system while preparing for a ‘people’s revolt’.
However, Dr Bhattarai has come up with a softer tone, saying the party should move ahead by forging consensus with the parties in order to defend the political achievements made so far.