Dahal to present political paper at CC Sunday

KATHMANDU, July 17: After dithering for weeks, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is likely to present his political document at the party Central Committee (CC) meeting Sunday outlining the party´s course in peace process, even as his detractors are flexing muscles to block discussions on the document.



A meeting of the party´s top office bearers on Saturday briefly discussed Dahal´s document and decided to call a CC meeting for Sunday.[break]



“Despite persistent differences in the party, we decided to hold CC meeting on Sunday,” said Maoist Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha.



The newly forged alliance of vice-chairmen duo Mohan Baidya and Dr Baburam Bhattarai is collecting signatures of CC members to muster a majority against Dahal to force the latter to share his power with other leaders, prior to discussing any policy paper.



The leaders from the alliance stated that they would first see how Dahal would present himself at the meeting and chart out their strategy accordingly, while those from the party establishment stated that Dahal would simply present a document and call for discussions on it.



“The party´s tactical line is peace and constitution which has already been endorsed by the CC. So presenting another political document is to push into background the real issues of the day -- that is power-sharing in the party,” said party leader Khagaraj Bhatta, who is close to Bhattarai.



But the party establishment has argued that the chairman would not share his power and become weak at this juncture. “The issue of the day is how we should move ahead to conclude peace and constitution -- not power-sharing within the party. It is not the time to decide who should lead the military wing or parliamentary party,” said Maoist leader Shakti Basnet, who is close to Dahal.



The leaders from Dahal faction claimed that the attempt by Baidya and Bhattarai to muster a majority in the CC was their last card and that too has failed miserably, while those from the alliance stated that they would present the signatures of the majority if need be. The leaders said the forthcoming CC meeting would make Dahal stronger than ever.



“Without taking bold decisions, there is no chance to conclude peace and constitution. So the chairman will face the challenge to become stronger than ever,” Basnet said.



The leaders say there is no chance of Dahal quitting as the parliamentary party leader before the conclusion of peace and constitution, but he may discuss division of work -- without sharing his leadership -- once the party´s action-plan in peace process is finalized.



“But the party already has a policy on peace and constitution and the problem lies in its implementation. So the issue of work-division should be settled first,” said leader Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma, who is close to Baidya.



Meanwhile, Sashi Serchan, Kaman Singh Lama and Ishwari Bhattarai, who had been campaigning for settling the issues amicably, threw their weight behind the alliance and signed the paper for power-sharing within the party.

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