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Fear doesn’t rule NC’s third faction
KATHMANDU, AUG 26 -
As the party’s 12th General Convention approaches, the “third faction” in the Nepali Congress (NC) led by Bhim Bahadur Tamang and Narahari Acharya seems to have grown “fearless”. There are two reasons for it. First, it does not have to appease leaders of the established panels in the party, and second, it is not afraid of losing the battle either. Acharya loves to talk about the ideals of BP Koirala and
Tamang with his long experience in the party and has the confidence to lead. And both are known for their impeccable political integrity, rare in Nepali politics.
They say “fear” is one of the major foes they want to fight against. Acharya says it is “the fear of the two dominant factions among the individual leaders” his front is fighting. “If we could make the party’s rank and file fearless, a true democracy would be born. We want to address the division inside, institutionalise the party and guide it under a clearly spelled-out principle.”
The group hopes to provide a choice to the leaders who are “wary” of the two factions — the establishment faction led by Acting President Sushil Koirala and the faction led by Sher Bahadur Deuba — and to the “progressive and youth” members who stand for change and a party guided not by a “personality cult” but by certain values.
Its mission, among others, is to brush up the “common ills” inside and reorient the entire party on the path of democratic socialism, which it believes was the original ideology the party first championed in.
The front has a reading that the party has lost the stature it had gained for its advocacy for democratic socialism during the early years when BP Koirala was leading. NC’s image as a democratic-socialist party rose to such a prominence that even great socialist leaders from Europe like Willy Brandt, the then president of the Socialist International, had a very high regard for BP and the stand of the party he was leading.
With this reading, the third faction wants to transform the current “capitalist” image of the party to a democratic-socialist one.
Having set its goals, the faction, however, knows its limits too. It is prepared to face a defeat, and is therefore, even more fearless.
“We might lose the battle, but we will win the war,” claims Chakra Bastola, another leader in the group.
As for the election, the leaders believe that it would appeal strongly to around 35 percent of the “swing voters” in the Convention. “We are gaining momentum, and are hopeful,” says Bastola, “but we are not afraid of losing, either.”
Agenda focuses on bridging rift
The third faction in the NC led by Bhim Bahadur Tamang and Narahari Acharya made public its election agenda on Thursday. It announced that its aim is to address the growing polarisation in the party.
Reading out a 12-page commitment paper, Acharya said the key issues his group wants to address are ending factionalism, reorienting the party along the principles adopted by BP Koirala, transfering the responsibility to youth leaders, promoting financial transparency and equal political treatment inside the party.
Tamang and Acharya have announced their candidacy for the posts of party president and general secretary. Acharya said his group will announce its candidacy for only around 20 seats of the total 62.
GC to unite party: Sushil
KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress (NC) Acting President Sushil Koirala on Thursday said the general convention of the party that starts from September 17 should be taken as a campaign to restore unity within the party. Speaking at a programme organised by the NC to remember Bal Bahadur Rai, a senior NC leader, who died on July 4 at an age of 90, Koirala said, “It hurts when people talk about different factions within the party. For the sake of leaders like Rai, we should be united.” “The party should face challenges of the nation as a whole, not as factions,” he added. (PR)
Posted on: 2010-08-27 08:48
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