Dahal not happy with party unification?

Kathmandu, August 17

Co-chair of Nepal Communist Party Pushpa Kamal Dahal today said although he sometimes felt there would have been political options if he had not merged the CPN-MC with the CPN-UML, he knew there was no option to strengthening the unified party.

According to him, if unification, executed by sacrificing all political options, fails, the communist movement and the entire nation will fail. “It’s because of this concern, we are taking tough decisions, evident in the party secretariat’s appointment of department chiefs,” he said at an interaction in Kathmandu. He added that the unification process would be completed and the party would emerge a formidable force that would lead the country to prosperity.

Observers say Dahal’s statement should be taken as part of a series of statements ever since he brought up the issue of the pre-merger agreement reached with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli whereby the two would take turns as PM.

“His recent public remarks show he might not have been happy in the past 13 months of party unification,” said an NCP leader representing the former CPN-MC. “For example, yesterday’s secretariat decision is somewhat not in line with the spirit of party unification.” The leader also said the recent friction in the party did not give Dahal an independent role. “Dahal’s active working spirit has recently hit the brakes and this might have bothered him,” the leader said.

Besides, things are different in the NCP compared to the former CPN-MC which was synonymous with Dahal. “In the CPN-MC, nobody challenged Dahal, and he freely took unilateral decisions,” said a leader representing the former UML. “So that explains his discomfort.” The leader also said Dahal changed his position frequently, at times unpredictably, but this was not possible in the unified party where decisions had to be based on consensus and were subject to questioning.

The leader said Dahal was right in saying he had no option, as manoeuvring would mean splitting the party, which could be disastrous. “He is now bound by a system he is not used to and these things might have bothered him.”

Other leaders, however, said Dahal had time and again, and in today’s statement too, stressed his commitment to unification. “It is natural that there should be some infighting in a dynamic party,” a former CPN-MC leader said.