KATHMANDU, March 26: Top UCPN (Maoist) leaders´ plan to give full shape to the party´s central committee (CC) has been foiled as the elected CC members have rejected outright a list of proposed new members.
With this refusal, UCPN(Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other top leaders have faced a serious blow at the first-ever central committee meeting convened after the party´s general convention held in Hetauda earlier this year.[break]
The chairman proposed a 399-member central committee and he presented the meeting a list of 364 members for the central body. "But our friends rejected it outright, saying it isn´t inclusive, seemed to be prepared randomly and various deserving leaders were not included," CC member Bishwabhakta Dulal told Republica.
An office bearers´ meeting prepared the list through an understanding among the party´s key leaders including Dahal and Vice-chairmen duo Baburam Bhattarai and Narayankaji Shrestha, who lead parallel factions within the party. The list of proposed names for the nominated members increased significantly as they wanted to patch up factional feuds by accommodating aspirants from all three groups.
The proposed committee turned into a jumbo body as accommodating the factional groups was a tough job for the leaders, with some other key leaders running factions within factions.
With 98 members nominated and endorsed by the general convention in Hetauda, it was decided to give full shape to the 151-member central committee by nominating 53 more members later.
Central committee members, while participating in the deliberations, accused the top leaders of selecting proposed members who are near and dear to themselves. They also criticized some senior leaders for occupying their positions even though they are too old to play an active role in the party and have already held those same positions for years. They demanded that young and active leaders be promoted to the central body.
The top leaders, while preparing the 364-member list, decided to convert all the 240 members in the general convention organizing committee into central committee members.
Though the general convention mandated the central committee to nominate only 53 new members, the leaders decided to extend the list to 399 with the addition of other leaders as alternative central committee members. They resorted to adding 248 alternative members in a bid strike a balance among the factional groups, as the party statute is silent on the number of alternative members.
With strong objections from central committee members, the next round meeting has been called for March 30 but leaders privy to intra-party feuding believe that the upcoming meeting is not going to be decisive either.
After reading the mood of central committee members on Monday, the top leaders now plan to give full shape to the body phase-wise and not at one go so that they can include members only after studying members´ reactions. "Both central committee members and alternative members will be nominated in several phases because it has become clear that the leaders can´t manage the reactions if it is done at one go," said a leader.
The leaders are yet to form the party´s separate standing committee and politburo. Given the controversy over giving full shape to the central committee, it is certain that the formation of the two top bodies is going to be further deferred as Dahal wants to form these bodies only after giving full shape to the central committee.
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