The rift surfaced as party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and those loyal to him argued in favor of deferring protests against the president’s move in view of its ‘broader spirit of ending the political deadlock’ as against the proposal of the faction led by Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai. The faction led by Bhattarai, who is also prime minister, insisted Saturday that the party react immediately against the president’s move, terming it ‘unconstitutional’. [break]
A meeting of the party’s office bearers held later in the day finally agreed to go for ‘soft’ protests and issuing of statements to ‘politically expose’ the president’s move. “A debate surfaced at the meeting whether or not the party should stage protests against the president’s move immediately. Finally, the party decided to voice its protest by issuing statements politically exposing the president’s move,” Dor Prasad Upadhyaya, a Central Committee member, told Republica.
At the meeting, the Bhattarai faction argued that the president’s move is a result of remaining silent over his earlier move to render the government a caretaker one two days after the dissolution of the CA on May 27. The Bhattarai faction argued that the Maoists should have immediately taken to the streets against that move.
At the meeting, said a Maoist leader, the Bhattarai faction insisted that the party should not remain silent as in the past but immediately hit the streets with strident protests. They maintained that the president’s previous move had also breached his constitutional limits.
President Yadav and PM Bhattarai were engaged in arguments in the past also. Rift between the head of state and head of government widened after Yadav rejected some ordinances forwarded by the government.
At the meeting, the Dahal faction argued that there was no possibility of strong action as the party was itself in power. They argued that the party should hold serious talks with the president to find a solution.
Party insiders say that though Dahal is not in favor of Bhattarai prolonging his stay in power, he has so far not found an opportune situation to vent his feelings. The Dahal and Bhattarai factions have been criticizing each other since a long time. While the Dahal faction was miffed with the Bhattarai faction for not including Dahal aides in Baluwatar and for taking decisions on many issues without holding any consultations, the Bhattarai faction has been accusing Dahal of not extending his support to the government.
In their rift over the president’s move, the Maoists have concluded that the move was ‘unconstitutional’, ‘regressive’ and that ‘it will break the politics of consensus.’
“It is wrong to set a deadline for the formation of a national consensus government as Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has been striving for that since a long time. In dictating a timeframe, the president has tried to move against the constitution,” said Agni Prasad Sapkota, spokesperson of the Maoists, after the office bearers’ meeting.
A day after Prime Minister Bhattarai’s address to the nation, President Yadav on Friday gave the political parties seven days to form a national consensus government. President Yadav called upon the parties to pick a prime ministerial candidate as per Article 38 (1) of Interim Constitution by 4 pm on Thursday.
A statement issued by the President´s Office said the move was taken in line with the spirit of Article 38 (1) while also taking into consideration Article 36 (A) of the Interim Constitution. Article 36 (A) states that the president shall be head of state, and in that capacity his main duty shall be to protect and abide by the constitution.
While the opposition parties have welcomed the presidential move as ‘constitutional’ the Maoist office bearers’ meeting Saturday termed it ‘meaningless’. Addressing the nation on Thursday, Prime Minister Bhattarai had urged the political parties to form a consensus government, saying he was ready to quit his post if the parties come up with a consensus.
“The president’s move has derailed the politics of consensus,” said Sapkota.
Talking to journalists at the party headquarter at Perisdanda, Sapkota also said that the president’s move will invite confrontation among the political parties. Sapkota also said the president bypassed the government by not sending his letter to the prime minister and sending it directly to the chief secretary instead.
Prez clarifies as Dahal reads between the lines
Dahal has taken the president’s call as a positive move in its broader spirit of forming a national unity government through consensus among the major political parties and holding fresh elections, while he smells a rat in the language used in the president’s statement.
Dahal, at a meeting with President Ram Baran Yadav on Saturday, enquired with the president about the meaning between the lines.
“As I found ambiguity in the language, I asked the president if he wanted to exercise executive power as well,” Dahal told reporters while emerging from the president’s office. “The president made it clear that his intent was nothing more than helping in forming a consensus government.”
Dahal’s statement has come at a time when UCPN (Maoist) leaders close to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, have termed the president’s announcement itself an unconstitutional move.
Dahal sees nothing wrong in the president’s move as such if it helps in forming a new government in consensus, but leaders close to the prime minister have said the president breached the constitution while making the announcement
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