The party struggled for a long period to settle the issue of sharing of work responsibilities but could not materialize it as the leaders themselves were sharply divided in two parallel factions—one led by party Chairman KP Oli and another by party senior leader Nepal.
The leaders close to the Nepal faction including assistant general secretary Ghan Shyam Bhusal and secretary Yogesh Bhattarai have been slamming the decision of portfolio division in public, terming it injudicious and unilateral one. This is a manifestation of great discontent of the minority faction in the UML that began soon after Madhav Kumar Nepal was routed by Oli in the post of party's chairman in the party's Ninth National Congress.
But, the dispute simmering inside the party spilled out after the split in the party's sister wing— the Youth Association of Nepal (YAN). The team Nepal had been taking an exception to the appointment of Niru Pal as the chief of YAN reasoning that bypass of Dilu Panta, who is supposed to be senior than Pal, itself was a ploy to further corner the minority by the party's establishment faction.
However, the party establishment faction was irked by the statements made by leader Nepal while addressing a parallel meeting of the YAN in the capital city. Leader Nepal is accused of terming YAN a gang of goons, red sandalwood smugglers and extortionists while a parallel gathering of the YAN held in Hetauda passed a formal motion in condemnation of leader Nepal and sought action against his 'unruly and anti-party' remarks. But, so far, the party has taken no official decision to initiate action against leader Nepal. It is because the team Nepal faction has a sizable portion in the party though no majority.
Analyst Jhalak Subedi observes that the major bone of contention in the CPN (UML) is nothing more than the squabble for political space. "Leaders are divided. Position of both factions is more or less same. But, the Oli faction is not in a mood to accept the Nepal faction's brand. Whereas, the Nepal faction is looking forward to counter the political hegemony in the party with full strength," Subedi argues.
As more beneficiaries are from the Oli camp both in the party and government including in the recently formed Landless Squatters Problem Resolution Commission and replacement of the ministers some months ago, and other reasons have also fuelled the intra-party feud in the UML.
The entire CPN (UML) party rank and file's perspective on country's socio-political ideology, philosophy and understanding is not fundamentally different but what raises concerns of all is the ego clash among the leaders that may paralyze the party if the top leaders fail to reconcile. But, the Oli factor or his will to fully control the party as the chairman is a matter of serious consideration.
In the meantime, the implicit hostility in the CPN (UML) is likely to jeopardize the ongoing constitution writing process. Analysts believe that Madhav Kumar Nepal and the team has taken comparatively a softer stance to deal with the UCPN (Maoist)-led alliance while the Oli faction is too rigid to accommodate the ideas of the former rebels in the new constitution.
Now, the onus lies on the UML leaders to decide what course they want to take on to address the party's row and move ahead with a united strength. It would be a plus point for UML if the party leadership utilizes its strength of a being a comparatively moderate communist party to bring all other extremist forces to a meeting point for the new constitution. However, if the leaders continue to indulge in intraparty squabble that would certainly take the UML nowhere.
Ranju Darshana quits Bibeksheel Sajha Party as intraparty rift...
--MAHENDRA SUBEDI/RSS
