Kathmandu, July 20

Co-chair of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal today told some of the Standing Committee members, who were formerly associated with the erstwhile CPN-Maoist Centre, that he would not accept people's multi-party ideology championed by the erstwhile CPN-UML.

The PM's clarification came days after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli told Dahal in front of President Bidhya Devi Bhandari that he should accept people's multi-party democracy if he wanted the special General Convention to elect him as the party's new chairperson, according to Standing Committee member Lilamani Pokharel.

The president's office has not said anything about the recent meeting that took place in Sheetal Niwas.

Dahal told party leaders that the next general convention should chart out new ideology to achieve the goals of socialism as envisioned by the new constitution and in order to achieve those goals, the NCP should not accept people's multi-party democracy or else it would be akin to following the status quoist policies. "People's multi-party democracy was launched during constitutional monarchy and now we have republican order. We have said that we will pursue the goals of socialism.

How can we pursue the same old ideology?" Dahal said during the gathering at his residence. Dahal told Standing Committee leaders that the party needed to take good elements of all ideologies — people's multi-party democracy and people's democracy of 21st century — and propound a new ideology to suit the new era.

Dahal, who headed the erstwhile CPN-MC before its merger with the CPN-UML had championed the cause of people's democracy of 21 century.

Dahal also told his party leaders to stay united to pressure Oli to give in to their demands. Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal have asked Oli to quit as PM or party chair. Some leaders, including former prime minister Jhalanath Khanal, have asked Oli to quit both posts. Oli, however, is in no mood to oblige.

According to Pokharel, Dahal also told party leaders that Oli had almost split the party a few weeks ago when he promulgated the ordinance to amend the Political Party Act allowing dissidents to split a party with the support of 40 per cent members either in the central committee or the parliamentary party. Dahal said he had chosen to be patient for the sake of party unity.

According to Pokharel, Dahal told the gathering that the Standing Committee meeting would not be postponed and the party would decide on how to end the stalemate.

Oli, who has been avoiding the Standing Committee, has pledged to attend its meetings from now on. The next Standing Committee meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.

Dahal also agreed that the special General Convention that Oli had proposed to hold in November would not be possible in the next four months. Dahal and other Standing Committee members were of the view that holding GC within the next four months would be impossible, mainly because the unification process had not been completed yet and other tasks, such as renewing party membership and taking the party's political documents to the lowest rungs of the party for debate could not be completed within four months.

Another Standing Committee member Devendra Paudel said Dahal told them that Oli had the main role to play to end the current impasse in the party.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 21, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.