E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, NOV 04 -

As Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya registered a 10-point note of dissent in the party’s Central Committee (CC) meeting on Thursday, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal admitted that intra-party rift had reached its climax.

Addressing the much-awaited and much-talked-about CC meeting that had been postponed several times by the

chairman to buy time, Dahal said keeping the party united is the biggest challenge for him now.

“Yesterday’s press conference organised by Kiranji (Baidya) to protest the peace deal shows that the intra-party rift has reached its climax,” a leader quoted Dahal as telling the meeting.

He also said he is looking for ways to manage the rift in the party and to take the dispute to the general convention for an ultimate vote. “The top priority at present is to set the party’s political course clear, which will settle the rift,” Dahal said, adding that the country is in the final stages of transition.

Dahal said differences have surfaced in the party primarily because of confusion and lack of a uniform view on the party’s political course.

The next CC meeting will be held on November 13, as Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai are going abroad. While Dahal is leaving for New York on Saturday to meet UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon and discuss development of Lumbini, Bhattarai is leaving for the Maldives on November 8 to attend the Saarc Summit. The CC meeting was postponed after top leaders agreed to hold serious discussions on all issues.

According to Maoist leaders, Dahal and Baidya have agreed to keep the party unity intact by formulating a method to manage the dissenting views. Dahal has agreed to take the views aired by the Baidya faction to the grassroots level and hold public discussions. In Thursday’s meeting, Dahal also said he is ready to review all the political line taken by the party and hold intensive discussions to chart out the party’s future political course.

The Maoist party is unlikely to split, as the hardliners do not appear ready to part ways as long as their ‘dissent isn’t stifled’ in the party.

Dahal is said to have told his core group in a recent meeting that Baidya will not leave the party. He, however, appears to be convinced that some other leaders will quit the party.

“Kiranji will not quit the party, and it does not matter if junior leaders leave,” a leader quoted Dahal as saying. “Some dissatisfied people may quit the party, but top leaders will stay put,” Politburo member Haribol Gajurel said. They expect Ram Bahadur Thapa, Netra Bikram Chand and a few other CC members to quit the party.

In their note of dissent registered at the CC, the Baidya faction has demanded clarification from Dahal on his ‘mysterious meeting with persons from foreign intelligence agencies and others.’ The Baidya faction has also demanded a review of the decision to hand over keys of arms containers, and the decision to return seized property, the four-point agreement signed with Madhesi parties, row on the party’s labour union and BIPPA signed with India.

Baidya faction’s note of dissent

•    Decision to return seized property

•    Party's flexible stance on constitution issues

•    Dahal faction's domination in trade unions

•    Dahal's 'mysterious meetings' with foreign

intelligence agencies

•    Four-point agreement signed with Madhesi parties

•    bippa signed with India

•    Seven-point agreement

•    Defence minister's statement

•    Handover of arms container keys

•    Regrouping of combatants

Posted on: 2011-11-04 08:32

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