“We will abide by any party decision, but safeguard our dissent,” states the memorandum submitted to Dahal at the International Conference Center (ICC).[breaj]
The lawmakers were expressing solidarity with the note of dissent written by Bhattarai, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Dinanath Sharma at the Standing Committee meeting that took the decision to back Khanal.
The Standing Committee meeting, held at the ICC just ahead of the prime ministerial voting, saw heated disputes between the Bhattarai faction and the party establishment backed by most leaders close to Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya.
The Bhattarai faction stated that Dahal decided to contest the election to effectively prevent Bhattarai from becoming prime minister, and that the party´s last-minute decision has now substantiated their claim.
Dahal bursts into tears in the meeting
Faced with stiff resistance from Bhattarai faction against his proposal to back Khanal, Chairman Dahal burst into tears during the standing committee meeting.
“I have long been facing humiliation due to my stance for nationalism; I can no longer put up with humiliation, I can no longer sustain my candidacy,” a Standing Committee member quoted Dahal as saying while shedding tears. Barshaman Pun, another standing committee member, had also wept along with Dahal.
But Bhattarai argued that the decision to withdraw the candidacy was against the party´s earlier decision, and the move would also bring shame to the largest political party.
Netra Bikram Chand, a confidant of Baidya, tried to calm down the emotionally-charged environment saying the party should convene another meeting another day and take an appropriate decision. But Dev Gurung and Krishna Bahadur Mahara insisted that the party take the decision immediately.
Finally, when the party took the decision, Bhattarai, along with his two aides in the Standing Committee, wrote a note of dissent.
“We are writing this note of dissent as the party decided to back another candidate even though our own party has the real chance of leading the government,” a leader quoted Bhattarai´s dissent. It is the third time that Bhattarai registered a dissent in the party after the Palungtar plenum.
Dahal, Baidya factions meeting at businessman´s house
According to sources, Dahal and Baidya factions held a meeting at businessman Ajaya Sumargi´s house at Babar Mahal in the morning and reached a decision to back Khanal in the first round of voting. It was a surprise for Bhattarai camp which thought Dahal might take such a decision in the second round only.
According to leaders close to Dahal, the party took the decision as a preemptive action against possible conspiracies not to let Khanal become the prime minister.
The Maoist leaders during that meeting also briefly held discussion on which leader should lead the party in the government. According to sources, General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa, and standing committee members Dev Gurung and Krishna Bahadur Mahara are the possible candidates. “But Mahara is most likely to lead the party in the government,” said a leader close to Dahal.
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