The party cannot achieve its political goals if the person heading it does not conform to its ideology

KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 10

The feud between the two faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) shows no sign of ebbing, with the two factions now wrangling over what can resolve the crisis facing the party.

The Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led faction of the NCP is trying to forge understanding with the rival faction of the party led by Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal along the line of decisions the party’s Standing Committee took on September 11, but leaders close to Dahal and senior NCP leader Madhav Kumar Nepal say abiding by the September 11 decisions is not enough.

The Standing Committee had decided on September 11 that the PM would have a free hand in the day-today affairs of the government, while Dahal will exercise executive power in the party as per the recommendation of the six-member task force. The decision of the party’s top body had helped defuse the tension in the party then.

Standing Committee member Matrika Prasad Yadav, who is close to Dahal, however, said the feud within the party was about ideology and policies and not about who gets what position in the party.

“As a communist party we believe in dialectical materialism, and our statute says socialism is our goal. Only by reforming our party can we achieve goals of socialism.

A party that protects interests of comprador (a person who acts as an agent for foreign organisations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation) and capitalists cannot achieve the goals of socialism,” he added. He said he had written a note of dissent on the Standing Committee decision taken on September 11 because he believed that the party did not review and criticise the government for its failure to handle governance issues.

He said the party could not achieve its political goals if the person heading it did not conform to its ideology.

Standing Committee member Yubaraj Gyawali, who is close to Nepal, said although the prime minister was telling party leaders to resolve the crisis on the basis of September 11 decisions, abiding by September 11 decisions now would not resolve the current crisis. He meant that Oli should have abided by the Standing Committee’s decisions earlier and should not have taken decisions unilaterally.

Gyawali said there were ideological and policy concerns that could be addressed only after thorough discussion in the Standing Committee. “There are many leaders in the Standing Committee who believe that comprador and capitalists that have been controlling the national economy since Panchayat days should be defeated and the party should not be under their influence, but the PM does not share this view,” he said.

Another Standing Committee member close to Nepal said there were many leaders in the party who believed that corruption had increased in recent months, but the PM was claiming that he had been able to control corruption.

He said many Standing Committee leaders shared the public view that the government had scored poorly on governance, but the PM negated that view as well. “How can the party resolve intra-party feud if the PM does not share views of majority members of the party?” he asked.

The leader said if the PM agreed to step down either as prime minister or party co-chair and pledged to improve governance, an amicable solution to the problems might be found, otherwise the Standing Committee might take decisions on the basis of majority. Oli is in minority in all party bodies.

Intra-party rift widened in the NCP after Dahal wrote a 19-page proposal accusing PM of failing to run the government effectively, defying party norms and decisions, and making appointments in constitutional bodies without consulting party leaders.

Oli penned a 38-page rebuttal accusing Dahal of promoting factionalism and showing lust for power.

A source close to Oli said his faction was in favour of forging an understanding along the lines of decisions taken by the Standing Committee on September 11. “There is no alternative to consensus in the party,” the source said. But the rival faction has decided to force majority decision.