Nepal, Khanal flay govt, party leadership

Kathmandu, December 22

Senior leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal flayed their party’s leadership and government’s ‘poor performance’ and demanded that the party follow rules and regulations without playing favourites.

According to Standing Committee member Yogesh Bhattarai, the two leaders said the KP Sharma Oli-led government was becoming unpopular and that the two co-chairs, Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal had not taken other leaders into confidence.

They also criticised the political document jointly presented by Oli and Dahal, saying the document failed to address issues raised during communist revolutions. They said the party should coordinate with all its departments and give due respect to leaders without playing favourites and that the party’s norms and values should be followed.

Nepal said the party leadership had failed to live up to expectations of the party’s rank and file. The NCP was formed after unification between the then CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre.

“It is too late to form organisations in all the levels, particularly at the lower levels. The party should have done these things within three months after unification,” Mani Thapa, a member of the SC quoted Nepal.  He said if the leadership didn’t rectify its mistakes then the party would have to pay a big price in future.

Nepal, who was recently criticised for helping the Universal Peace Federation, a controversial INGO, hold the Asia Pacific Summit in Kathmandu, didn’t respond to criticism. Nepal also opposed more than one responsibility assigned to some leaders.

PM Oli had appointed Chief Minister of Province 5 Shankar Pokharel as the party’s province in-charge. “One person, one post principle should be followed in the province,” Nepal said. Khanal commented that if the party did not follow an ideology, then the party would not be able to achieve the goals of socialism.

General Secretary of the ruling party Bishnu Paudel was all praise for the joint political document presented by Oli and Dahal, today. “The government is doing everything right,” a Standing Committee member quoted Paudel as saying.

Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel did not defend the government as strongly as some other Cabinet colleagues had done earlier.

Bamdev Gautam, Bhim Rawal and Ghana Shyam Bhusal had criticised Oli’s leadership inside the party and also the government’s performance.

Nepal will be speaking tomorrow as the time allotted to him today was not enough. The party’s Co-chairs Oli

and Dahal will address the meeting on the final day to address the issues raised by party leaders.

Grievances

  • Other leaders not taken into confidence
  • Party’s norms and values not followed
  • Leadership accused of favouritism
  • One person, one post principle not followed
  • Government becoming unpopular