Can Dahal deliver?

UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has his task cut out. With the radical faction under Mohan Baidya breaking away, it is up to Dahal to give the mother party a new direction. But even more importantly, as one of the two main drivers (with GP Koirala) of the peace and constitution process in its early days, the onus is on him to prove he is up to the task of taking the process to its end. Perhaps realizing Dahal’s pivotal role in national polity, President Ram Baran Yadav Dahal on Sunday asked him to play a ‘special role’ and to take a strong initiative to forge consensus among major political parties. On cue, the major parties on Monday agreed to give him the central role to break the current political deadlock. Dahal is currently believed to be busy preparing his political document for the expanded party plenum starting July 16. At the moment, Dahal seems to have two chief goals: first, adding muscle to party leadership so that divisive forces in the party can be reined in and second, reemphasizing the centrality of peace and constitution agenda in Nepali politics.



We believe that after the breaking away of Baidya faction it is all the more important for the top two Maoist leaders in Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai to work in close concert to ensure that their agenda of peace and constitution is salvaged, not the least because radical forces bent on wrecking the whole process seem to be stirring again. (While much attention has gone into the constitutional process, let us not forget the peace process is far from complete without a final settlement of the integration issue). For this, there is still no alternative to consensus among progressive forces, both at inter-and intra-party levels. We believe Dahal is right in hinting that the PM should go if an atmosphere for consensus can be forged. As we have emphasized in this space many times, the best course of action for Bhattarai is to tender his resignation for a (possibly NC-led) consensus government. But Dahal has an even bigger responsibility.



In order to prove his continued loyalty to the peace and constitution agenda Dahal must reaffirm his commitment to the stalled process. For this, it is important that he takes important political actors into confidence. This, in turn, entails dialogue with other parties in a spirit of consensus and compromise. But it won’t be easy. The suspicions Dahal sowed with the sacking of former army chief Rookmangud Katawal in 2009 have not been removed. It thus calls for astute statesmanship on Dahal’s part to resurrect the inter-party trust seen at the start of the new political process in 2006. It also means Dahal should promote internal democracy within UCPN (Maoist). Any effort to concentrate powers will unnecessarily spook the Bhattarai and Narayan Kaji sections, just at a time their cooperation is most needed. Without first putting his own house in order, it will be hard to convince a skeptical public that he can still play a meaningful role in national polity. As the voices for the prime minister’s resignation strengthen and the country inches closer to the scheduled Nov. 22 (albeit unlikely) election date, Dahal’s statesmanship will truly be tested.

Related story

SC to deliver verdict on 12-year-old case unheard for years on...