“In return the chairman offered to the hard-line faction to put forward their views at the same gathering the next day. But they are yet to be convinced,” said a senior leader close to Dahal. [break]
Leaders close to Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya declined the offer, saying the intention behind the so-called “national gathering” was to woo the support of cadres from their faction.
“It is a meeting of a particular faction, not the whole party. So why doesn´t the chairman dare to call it his own meeting, rather than lying to the cadres,” said Maoist leader Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma.
According to party insiders, Dahal, in his bid to persuade the hardliners, is in constant touch with Senior Vice-chairman Baidya, who leads the hard-line camp, and General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa, who has recently been a more vocal critic of the party establishment.
“We are still making attempts to work out a formula to stop them from holding a separate gathering, for that would amount to a vertical split of the party,” said Central Committee (CC) Member Kumar Paudel, who is close to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai.
Worst confrontation
Party insiders say the rival factions are headed for the worst-ever confrontation in the party, with each faction holding a separate mega gathering of cadres in Kathmandu, partly to test their respective strengths.
Is reconciliation still possible between the rival factions or is the party irrevocably headed for a split?
“In one sense the party has already split, and there is very little hope for unity. But none of the factions is willing to announce the split and take the blame for engineering it,” says a senior leader close to Dahal.
According to Maoist leaders, the Baidya-faction leaders, mainly Netra Bikram Chand, CP Gajurel and Dev Gurung, wish that the party establishment would take disciplinary action against them so that they can blame it for precipitating the split. “But the chairman is not so dumb as to take action against them now and be blamed for the split,” says a leader close to Dahal.
CARTOON: RAJESH KC
And that´s the reason why Chand is adamant on holding the national gathering: He wants to provoke the party chairman by denouncing him in front of the cadres for “ideological deviation”.
“We are ready to withdraw the program, but they should first cancel their “illegitimate” program as the party has not taken any decision to hold it,” said Chand.
But the party establishment is not in a mood to back down. The last Standing Committee meeting, which was boycotted by the Baidya faction, had decided by a majority vote to hold the program as a countermove against the Baidya faction´s nationwide campaign. “The gathering is being held to disseminate the party´s official decision about the peace process. So there is no question of canceling it,” said Dahal.
The hardliners see the gathering as a move to weaken their faction. “What message do you get when the establishment keeps on postponing the Central Committee meeting that was supposed to settle the current dispute, and instead calls a national gathering of cadres for training?” asked Chand.
Sources says leaders from the hardline faction have already met Nepali Congress (NC) and UML leaders many times and warned them not to sign any deal with just the establishment faction of the Maoist party. And the sources argue they may even go for toppling the current government as they feel badly cheated by Dahal and Bhattarai.
This just indicates how far the two factions have drifted from each other and how deep the resentments run in each faction.
“Both factions have the same political character that fosters divisiveness rather than unity; hence the possibility of the party remaining united is getting slimmer by the day,” says Politburo leader Ram Karki.
Bishwakarma agrees: “Yes, the way the chairman is handling party affairs is sure to lead to a vertical split, and we cannot save it no matter how hard we try.”
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