Baidya-Bhattarai in new drive to downsize Dahal

REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, July 21: Further tightening the screws on Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Maoist Vice-chairmen duo Mohan Baidya and Baburam Bhattarai have initiated a new campaign to save the party from “decadence” and “democratize” it through collective leadership.

At a meeting of the Baidya-Bhattarai alliance at Dhobighat, Lalitpur, all top party office bearers except Secretary Post Bahadur Bogati and Chairman Dahal himself signed a commitment paper to force Dahal to share the centralized leadership with other leaders of the party.


With the signing of the document by Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha, the power balance in the party has been turned upside down, with a clear majority in the Central Committee (CC) now in favor of the alliance.

Interestingly, Nara Bahadur Karmacharya, one of the founders of the Community Party of Nepal in 1949, also signed the document, saying he was “sad” at the way the party was being run but “excited” by the campaign for its “purification”.

After the three vice-chairmen signed the paper, it was passed on to General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa, and then to Karmacharya. After that Sashi Serchan, who led the party unity campaign, and Nawaraj Subedi, representing his faction, signed the paper.

Party leaders say the new development will create ripples inside and outside the party, sending out the message that the party must be transformed and break from the current “stagnation”.

“This campaign is not against anyone; it is just meant to improve the ways of the chairman. The campaign has been launched and we won´t stop without accomplishing our mission,” said Sashi Serchan.

The commitment paper states that the party must undergo transformation to save its "sanctity” and keep party unity intact amidst growing factionalism. Concluding that the main reason behind the party´s “decadence” is “bureaucratic centralism in the party run by the chairman”, the top office bearers have demanded that the party adopt collective leadership in deed and practice “democratic centralism.”

The party has also stated that the internal contradictions and “two-line struggle” should be managed in a wholesome manner. The alliance also talks about “rational” power sharing in the party with Bhattarai as the leader in parliament, Thapa as military in-charge and Baidya as chief of the party´s organizational department.

Another point the paper talks about is the violation of the party´s decision to adopt inclusiveness and proportionality while making appointments to various bodies and in the government.

“The chairman had been running the party with deception. With the signatures of 90 CC members in favor of the alliance, there is no other option for the chairman than to improve himself and his ways,” said Haribhakta Kandel from the Baidya faction.

Immediately after signing the commitment paper, the alliance leaders are scheduled to present the document at the meeting of top party office bearers. “If the chairman accepts the document, the commitment will belong to the whole party. Otherwise, it would just be our campaign to downsize him and purify the party,” said a senior party leader.