UML leaders claim that situation turned adverse for Khanal particularly after the prime minister inducted nine Maoist minister flouting the party decision. The prime minister had reshuffled the cabinet just a few hours after an overwhelming majority of the party´s standing committee on Monday suggested to him not to take any such move.[break]
The development of a new alignment in the party´s latest standing committee meeting has emboldened the rival faction led by former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Sharma Oli. Even the party´s top body´s members including Yubaraj Gyawali, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Amrit Kumar Bohara and Siddhi Lal Singh, who were considered loyal to Khanal, were against his move to reshuffle the cabinet. Khanal was backed only by party vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam at the meeting.
Leaders said while some of the CC members are for taking a harsh stance against the party chairman, others are for chalking out a strategy only after observing how Khanal presents himself.
UML Spokesman Pradeep Gyawali believes that the way the situation is unfolding in recent days, the CC will take some steps to address the issue in an appropriate manner. “It is not only a disgruntled group that has been accusing the leadership. Even the party´s central disciplinary commission and the advisory body have concluded that the party chairman flouted the party decision. Therefore, the CC will do something in accordance with the party statute,” Gyawali told Republica.
The CC can force a leader, irrespective of his/her position, to undergo self-criticism if s/he flouts the party´s decisions. The CC can also issue a warning and suspend the leader´s party membership. Asked what action the CC may take against the party chairman, Gyawali said it would depend on how Khanal presents himself at the meeting. “If the chairman admits his mistakes, other leaders will be relatively sympathetic, but if he tries to defend his mistakes others will come up against him fiercely,” he said.
CC member Jagannath Khatiwada categorizes the UML CC members´ views on this particular issue into three groups. According to him, there are some members who find the prime minister´s decisions right and think there is no need to make any hue and cry over the issue. “Another section of leaders think that the CC should seek a self-criticism in writing from the chairman and recall him from the government,” Khatiwada said. “Yet another group describes Khanal´s mistakes as a serious crime against the party´s interests and want him suspended from the party´s position.”
However, a UML leader close to Khanal claimed that the rival faction does not have the courage to take any action against him. “There are some members in the UML´s central committee who are like barking dogs that seldom bite,” a leader said preferring anonymity.
He said the CC meeting can definitely review the prime minister´s tenure but it will also evaluate the performance of the immediate past government which was led by the party´s senior leader Nepal. “Nepal had reshuffled the cabinet for around 10 times but he never consulted the party committees. The chairman knew about the development through mass media. This issue would also be raised at the meeting,” the leader said.
While Khatiwada said there was a frustration among the party rank and file as the prime minister didn´t work in line with the party´s interests and never listened to the party members´ concerns, Gyawali claimed that the party members were irked by Khanal as he has failed to prove the relevance of him replacing another UML leader as the prime minister.
Another UML leader attributed Bamdev Gautam, who had split the UML in the past and later rejoined the party, for fanning fury against Khanal. “Gautam has time and again threatened to split the party and it has enraged the genuine UML cadres,” he said.
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