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Maoist rift: Dahal says PM will stay; Baidya wants him to go

KATHMANDU, JAN 11 -
Hardliners in the UCPN (Maoist) have rejected a ‘consensus proposal’ prepared by party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. They said Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai should step down immediately for consensus. Dahal has assured Bhattarai that the present government will continue for some time as the party lacks a credible plan B, while also trying to win over the hardliners by appearing to agree to their demands at least in principle. In his bid to soften the hardliners’ position and in keeping with revolutionary rhetoric, Dahal has proposed that the party ‘capture the state’ through elections once the peace and constitution process is completed, according to leaders who have seen the proposal.

On Wednesday morning, Dahal dispatched a draft of the consensus proposal to Baidya. However, a Politburo level meeting of the hardline faction turned down the proposal and decided to return it to Dahal for amendments.

After Baidya informed Dahal over telephone that his proposal failed to win his colleagues, Dahal sprang into action, calling a meeting of influential hardliners on Thursday.

Though Dahal and Baidya have agreed in principle to move ahead together by preparing a common position on the party’s immediate programmes and policies, the rival factions still have differences over the content of the consensual proposal and the issue of the PM’s resignation.

In his proposal, Dahal has said that the party should go for elections after the promulgation of a new constitution. Maoist Secretary CP Gajurel said Bhattarai should resign to pave way for a national consensus government. “During the meeting with us, he (Dahal) pledged to talk with Bhattarai about his resignation, at the same time he pledged to continue the present government.”

The hardline faction has demanded that the four-point agreement signed with the Madhesi parties be scrapped and the BIPPA signed with India be put on hold.

Some Maoist leaders say Dahal is assuring both Bhattarai and Baidya of his support in the same breath, which the leaders said could complicate the intra-party rift.

Dahal has assured Bhattarai that the government will not change for now, while he has told Baidya he has spoken to the PM about his resignation and formation of a new government, said pro-Baidya leader Hari Bhakta Kandel.

Meanwhile, the Dahal and Bhattarai factions claim that the hardliners will join the government. Dahal held a meeting with Bhattarai on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of inducting the harlinders. Politburo member Shakti Basnet, who is close to Dahal, said preparations are on to reshuffle the Cabinet.

“Hardliners have toned down their criticism of the Bhattarai government after reshuffling prepartions began,” Basnet said.

Posted on: 2012-01-12 08:57

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