Kathmandu, September 23

Co-chair of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal today criticised his own party leaders saying the unity deal between the erstwhile CPN-Maoist Centre and the CPN-UML was for creating a peaceful and competitive movement, but the ruling NCP had been charting out a different course.

“When things are not moving in the right direction, it is our duty to fix them and we are doing that,” he said.

Addressing a programme organised at NCP headquarters on the fifth memorial of late communist leader Sahana Pradhan, Dahal said another movement and mission was necessary to achieve the goals of socialism.

Dahal said, “When we joined competitive politics and attained power, we deviated from our ideals, ideology and faith. “We are called a communist party but are we a truly communist party?” he wondered.

He said giving big slogans was not significant but translating the promise into action was. One can give big slogans as did the kings of the Panchayat era when they said they would tap the source of development, but they did not deliver anything.

“What matters is action, not words,” Dahal said and added that his party needed an army to bring the desired results or else his party’s fate would not be different from the fate of the communist parties of eastern Europe.

He, however, clarified that he wanted to achieve the goals of change through competitive and peaceful politics.

He said he had agreed to unity not to fight within the party over factional interests, but to steer a new movement. However, today he saw deviation from and erosion of the party’s ideals.

We need to reform our party as it has deviated from its path, Dahal added.

He said his party had stated that it would make efforts to achieve the goals of socialism, but questioned whether the NCP was as working as one party to achieve the goals of socialism.

An NCP (NCP) leader who was formerly associated with the CPN-MC told THT that Dahal’s recent statement was a reflection of the frustration within the party. “Dahal has been in the centre of Nepali politics for the last 20 years and after unity of the two erstwhile communist parties, he feels he has lost stature,” the leader said, adding that Dahal, who has led the CPN-MC as the most progressive force in the country decided to join hands with KP Sharma Oli and the UML, which was not a progressive force.

“If Dahal is opposing factionalism then he should start the reform from himself because he is also leading a faction,” the leader said and added that Dahal’s opposition to the emergence of new elite class within the NCP was hollow as he himself had emerged as a member of the elite class. “Dahal has his own family members in his secretariat and this is against party ideals,” the leader added.

Political analyst Tula Narayan Shah said Dahal’s statement was a reflection of his uneasiness within the ruling NCP, which was a manifestation of his realisation that he had not been able to play a lead role after unification of the two communist parties — the CPN-MC and the CPN-UML.

“Sometimes Dahal talks highly of the unity and sometimes he regrets it. Sometimes he says a new people’s war can start again. All this shows inconsistency in Dahal’s views,” he said and added whether Dahal would stay within the NCP or leave the unified party  would be clear only around the next general elections.