Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, Senior Vice-Chairman Bamdev Gautam and General Secretary Ishwar Pokharel themselves spent some three hours in heated debate at a function organized at party headquarters, Balkhu where hundreds of cadres gathered to mark the 61st anniversary of the Communist Party of Nepal. [break]
The prime minister fiercely criticized Senior Vice-Chairman Gautam after the latter urged him to resign from his post to pave the way for the formation of a national consensus government. Gautam argued that Nepal has no option left but to step down as the government he heads has failed to expedite constitution writing and the peace process.
"A serious crisis is looming on the horizon as the parties have failed to produce the constitution by the given deadline. The prime minister must resign so as to save the country from bloodshed. This time the war might proliferate to the entire Asian level," Gautam said.
Responding to his argument, Nepal urged Gautam to worry about the CPN-UML, not about the Maoists. "I want to ask our friends, whether they are speaking the UML´s voice or are spokespersons for some other political party," he said. He also said any leader who is not saddened when UML cadres are attacked and left with broken limbs but worries about other parties has no moral ground to be an UML leader.
The prime minister became furious with the party vice-chairman for accusing him of failing to expedite constitution writing and the peace process. He claimed that the Maoists were the problem, not him.
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"If you still find me a problem for achieving the goals, I urge you and the parties to forge a national consensus and come up with an alternative to ensure peace and the constitution; I will quit the government within a minute," Nepal challenged.
Nepal also reminded the leaders, who demanded his resignation, that he accepted the post only after the UML unanimously proposed his candidacy and the other parties extended their supported.
He added that as a committed member of the party, he would abide by the UML decision within a minute once the party decides to recall him.
While the prime minister, Chairman Khanal and General Secretary Pokharel termed the ultra-leftist tendency and extremism of the Maoist party as the main challenge at present, Gautam denied this.
Gautam, who is believed to be close to the UCPN (Maoist), further claimed that as a true communist he doesn´t have any special affection for one particular party. "I am not for a particular party but for revolution and for the people," Gautam said.
While Gautam urged other leaders to improve relations with the Maoists, the prime minister, Khanal and Pokharel urged party rank and file to counter the Maoists on ideological grounds.
"The policy of appeasement can´t be the right approach to the Maoists. The UML ideology is itself the strongest weapon for tackling the Maoists," he said.
After listening to the heated debate, Chairman Khanal urge the senior leaders not to indulge in accusations and counter-accusations.
Also, Khanal challenged the Maoists to counter them ideologically. "While Maoist extremism is the major challenge of the present, we should fight against both the ultra-leftists and the far right," he added.
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