Maoist CC meet: discrepant proposals drawing observations

THT ONLINE

KATHMANDU: The Central Committee (CC) meeting of the UCPN-Maoist, which has provided a podium to the Maoist CC members, Maoist standing committee members, and politburo members, to reflect on the incompatible political documents of the party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and one of the party vice-chairman Mohan Bidhya, is to resume today also.

"Today’s CC meet has been called for 11 am, which will once again spill the intensified ideological rifts between the establishment faction and the dissenting Maoist faction over peace, statute, power sharing, people’s revolt and struggle, "said a privy source from the Maoist.

Till today, over100 members have floated their impressions over Dahal’s political document prioritising peace and statute, and on Maoist hardliner Mohan Baidhya’s political proposal, who stressed on struggle and revolt.

Inside the 146-member CC, Baidhya has the support of only 45 CC members while Dahal enjoys the majority.

Subsequent to the reflections and observations made by Maoist leaders, the former rebel party has planned to merge both the conflicting document into one, which will determine the party’s strategy.

At the party headquarters in perisdanda, Koteshwor, leaders aligned to Dahal and Baidhya are all set to lock horns over the issues including:

a. Return of seized properties, and scientific land reforms,

b. Idea of abandoning the term “ People’s War” in the new statute,

c. Numbers of combatants to be integrated ,

d. Financial irregularities inside the party,

e. Bilateral Investment Protection and Preservation Agreement (BIPPA)inked with India, among others.

Leaders aligned to the Maoist hardline faction led by Vice-chairman Mohan Baidhya — General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa, Secretary CP Gajurel and standing committee members Dev Prasad Gurung and Netra Bikram Chand — have already criticised Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal for leading the party towards ‘rightist opportunism’.

Whereas Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, one of the vice-chairmen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha, also a vice-chairman, Energy Minister Post Bahadur Bogati, and the standing committee member Krishna Bahadur Mahara have stood in support of Dahal’s document.

Baidhya, who presented his 12-page document during the second session of the ongoing CC meet, sees no alternative to immediate people’s revolt and made a claim that opting for the peace and constitution will bear no fruits at this bleak state of affairs, where people’s hopes and aspirations have been already kept at bay." Pro-people constitution is impossible," according to Baidhya.

But, Dahal has prioritised peace and statute and not the capture of state power in his political document presented during the first session of the CC.

Dahal has also presented offer to patch up intra-party differences through the general convention and on the majority basis.

Meanwhile, Baidhya’s document has accused establishment faction led by Dahal of trying to divert all attempts for the preparation of people’s revolt.

Dissenting Maoists have been ranting condemnations against the establishment faction for abandoning the 'line of revolt' which was adopted by the party’s sixth plenum at Palungtar in Gorkha last year.

For Baidhya, Dahal’s document was inspired by ‘rightist opportunism’ and aimed at splitting the party. " Dahal is the center of all evils and his paper cannot resolve the current ideological crisis afflicting the party," said Baidhya.

" Dahal has given up all the party stances and supported the capitalist agents," Baidhya's added.

Establishment faction and Baidhya faction inside Maoists are at bad terms since the former started taking decisions on peace, statute, government formation and power sharing single-handedly, often inking different pacts with non-Maoist actors.