Kathmandu June 30

Factionalism remains a reality in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) notwithstanding counter claims from party leaders.

Factional interests resurfaced yesterday at a dinner hosted by the party’s Foreign Affairs Department in Bagbazar.

NCP (NCP) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said at the event that the party’s decisions were being breached the very next day.

“The party decides something today and the minutes show a different decision,” a ruling party leader quoted Nepal as telling the party’s Foreign Affairs Department leaders yesterday.

According to a leader who attended the meeting, leaders close to Nepal clapped in support of his statement. Nepal’s displeasure had to do with the invitee members in the Standing Committee.

Nepal was unhappy that the number of invitee members had increased from four to eight without consulting him, said a source.

Sources said NCP (NCP) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal later chose  Peshal Khatiwoda and Tanka Rai from the former  CPN-MC and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli chose Somnath Adhikari and Nirmala Devkota from the former UML as invitee members of the Standing Committee.

NCP (NCP) Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha told leaders that there should be no groupism in the party and leaders/cadres should support the agenda on the basis of merit without seeking to please or antagonise party leaders. When Shrestha made this remark, leaders close to Oli clapped in support of his statement.

Shrestha told THT that he favoured running the party on the basis of party statute, its goals, norms and values and if the party could embrace all these things, groupism would not surface.

He said the party needed to ensure that nobody felt injustice was done to him/her.

Former CPN-MC leaders fear that former UML leaders might engage in groupism again.

Nepal also said that he had been working in the party’s Foreign Affairs Department for the last 40 years. Some leaders interpret this as his desire to lead the department.

Party leaders fear that factional interest will resurface when the party merges its sister organisations and the lower committees of the former CPN-UML and CPN-MC.

Former  CPN-MC had a diaspora of organisations in  42 countries and former UML in 38 countries. The NCP (NCP) has entrusted YubrajKarki and YubrajChaulagain with the responsibility of preparing a modality for unifying the diaspora committees.