Several CC members demanded that the central body come up with an alternative to the present coalition, while some leaders defended the government. [break]
Yogesh Bhattarai, who is believed to be close to party Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, urged not to waste further time supporting the present coalition government. "Backing this coalition in the name of UML leadership and hoping for results from this government is just like expecting cure from outdated medicine," Bhattarai said at the meeting.
He argued that the party leadership should think about an alternative as the government has failed to accomplish the tasks supposed to be done by this leadership.
"The party entrusted the government with taking the peace process to a logical end, expediting the constitution writing and building a national consensus on political issues but it failed to carry out any of these tasks. Therefore, the relevance of the government is now over," he said.
A senior party leader said a majority of the 16 members who spoke at Friday´s meeting suggested the party become flexible and open over the power-sharing issue.
"At the end of the meeting, we will come up with a proposal in line with their feedback," he said. Party secretary Yuvraj Gyawali, Pradip Gyawali, Bhim Rawal, Mukunda Neupane, Asta Laxmi Shakya and Bhattarai, among others, spoke at the meeting.
Members close to leaders heading the government, however, termed blame heaped on the coalition as biased. Home Minister Rawal urged the leaders not to forget Maoist activity that was always hostile toward the government.
"The Maoists obstructed the government in its every effort from the very beginning. Therefore, that needs to be taken under notice while evaluating the government´s performance," one leader quoted Rawal as saying.
Politburo member Pradip Gyawali urged the party leadership to come up with a pragmatic solution to the political crisis that is on the horizon, with the parties failing to write the constitution and take the peace process to a logical conclusion within a stipulated timeframe.
"Once we fail to promulgate the constitution by May 28, ultra-leftist forces will try to prove that it would be an appropriate time to go for a revolt while the ultra-rightists will try to activate the president and create problems. Therefore, we must focus on constitution writing and the peace process," he said.
He urged the leaders to push for early resolution of the issue of Maoist combatants. He was for resolving the issue of Maoist fighters before promulgating the constitution.
He argued that though one can point to various weaknesses on the part of the government one should not forget that it would be worse if the Maoists were in the government leadership. "The Maoists had a very dangerous plan. They would have taken the country into a serious situation by this time had the present government not been in place. In fact, this coalition had cushioned the country from serious catastrophe," he said.
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