KATHMANDU, Aug 31: The dissident group of the CPN-UML has turned down the party´s offer to discuss their demands through the party secretariat, saying that was not the right body to decide on their concerns.
The dissident UML leaders led by party Vice-chairman Ashok Rai boycotted a meeting with the party secretariat scheduled for Thursday and demanded that the secretariat convene a meeting with the party´s Standing Committee instead.[break]
"We didn´t attend the meeting Today [Thursday] because the secretariat is not the right body to address our concerns," Rai told Republica. "We had submitted a nine-point demand to the Standing Committee and we will hold talks only with that body."
According to Rai, he talked to the party secretary, Bishnu Prasad Paudel, who is also secretary to the party secretariat, about holding discussions with the Standing Committee, and Paudel responded positively.
The leaders are planning to attend a meeting between the two sides -- Standing Committee and dissident leaders -- on Saturday, the schedules of party Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and other top leaders permitting.
Paudel confirmed that top leaders including Chairman Khanal would attend the meeting to be held with the dissidents, Saturday.
A group of leaders from the Madhesi, ethnic and indigenous communities have been boycotting the party´s meetings and formal events for months, voicing their differences over the party´s official position on state restructuring. The UML establishment has said that the party is for naming and delineating the federal provinces on the basis of multi-ethnic identity, but the dissidents have been lobbying for a federal setup based on single-ethnic identity.
After receiving the party´s official letter inviting them for talks with the secretariat on their agenda, the dissidents held a meeting Wednesday evening and decided to hold talks only with the party´s top leadership. The party general secretary heads the secretariat.
Vice-chairman Rai, politburo members Prithivi Subba Gurung, Ram Chandra Jha, Bijay Subba and other leaders including Rakam Chemjong, Kiran Gurung, Dal Bahadur Rana, Mangal Siddhi Manandhar, Ajambar Rai and Rijwan Ansari attended the meeting.
Ansari said they wanted to talk to the top leaders because they want to make this round of negotiations final and establish clearly whether or not they can work with the UML any longer.
"We are ready to work with our party, UML, if the leadership is ready to address our nine-point demand; otherwise we want to set out our new course," former state minister Ansari told Republica. "Therefore, this time we want to make the talks final."
In their nine-point demand, the dissidents have mainly lobbied for the naming and delineating of provinces on the basis of single-ethnic identity and reinstatement of the dissolved Constituent Assembly.
However, a section of the party establishment is for taking action against them for running separate activities parallel to party events and challenging the party´s official policies and decisions at public forums.
The party leadership said the dissidents can air their views at the party´s meetings and lobby the party rank and file but cannot run parallel activities and publicly challenge the party´s official decisions.
Leaders familiar with developments informed that the establishment took strong exception as the dissidents in recent days have been forming their separate groups in the districts and at local levels parallel to the party committees.
"We have formed separate committees in several districts. Just yesterday [Wednesday] I arrived back from my home district Sarlahi after forming a separate committee of like-minded friends there," said Ansari.
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