E-Kantipur

SEP 22 -

The decision of the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee to dissolve the executive committees of four of its sister organisations — the Nepal Tarun Dal, Nepal Mahila Sangh, Nepal Adibasi Janajati Sangh and Prajatantra Senani Sangh — is indicative of the dysfunctions within the party that will likely contribute to weakening the organisation as a whole. It is true that the terms of the executive committees had long lapsed and were up for renewal. But rather than seek an amicable resolution to the problem, the party establishment chose to disregard an important faction of the party led by Sher Bahadur Deuba and decided to dissolve it. As all four of the sister wings were controlled by members of the Deuba faction, and as it was the Sushil Koirala faction that insisted that the bodies be dissolved, it appears that Koirala was driven more by a desire to undermine his rival within the party than by any desire for its greater good.

This at least is the perception in the Deuba camp. Its members therefore boycotted the voting process on this decision and are now seething in anger against the party establishment. This does not bode well for the party’s immediate future. Politics within the Nepali Congress is likely to take the form of a zero-sum game, with Koirala maintaining an intransigent posture and seeking to weaken his rivals. The Deuba faction, on the other hand, will feel that it is futile to seek accommodation with the establishment. Rather, it will feel, it would be better for it to adopt the same hard tactics, try to grasp and expand as much power as possible within the party and thus undermine the establishment. It can be expected that in the days ahead this internal contest will consume most of the energies of the Congress’ leaders, leading them with little time to pursue other important political matters and contributing to a weakening of the party.

There were those within the party advocating a middle-path between the two camps regarding the decision to dissolve the sister organisations. Their opinions should have been followed. For now there is a situation where four important organizations of the NC have been made defunct. No date for elections has been set, and it is likely that this process too will be the subject of long and prolonged negotiation. This means that the organisations will not have a leadership for a substantial period of time, making them almost completely moribund and unable to serve the needs of the constituencies that they represent. At a time when the need for the Congress is to expand its organization among the population, this is an unfortunate move. Its leaders, recognizing this, should soon make efforts at reconciliation between the factions and at holding elections to these bodies as soon as possible.

Posted on: 2011-09-22 09:13

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