Criticize govt, president and veep

KATHMANDU, Nov 22: Disgruntled leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) have submitted a memorandum to the party, demanding the immediate convening of the central committee.

The second-rung leaders have complained about shrinking intra-party democracy and about the party secretariat team dominating the decision-making process while keeping the central committee in the dark. As many as 18 of the party leaders including Bijay Kumar Paudel, Jagannath Khatiwada, Shatrudhan Mahato, Jayanti Rai, Garima Shah, Ram Kumari Jhakri and Birodh Khatiwada signed the memorandum addressed to the two party chairmen. They submitted the memorandum to General Secretary Bishnu Paudel on Wednesday.

According to them, another 66 members out of the total 441-member central committee of the party have backed their demand, but they couldn't sign the petition as they were away in their respective districts.

“If the party leadership functions arbitrarily and surrounds the government with people on the basis of individual ties or personal loyalty, the discontent in the party rank and file will only increase, causing serious setbacks to the party,” reads the memorandum.

They have also insisted that the party should function in line with its ideology, statute and system and the party leadership should avoid being swayed by personal relations and other influences while assigning responsibilities to the rank and file. “It is not possible to make everybody happy if the party is run through small factions and loyal individuals,” the memorandum further reads.

The disgruntled leaders have demanded a central committee meeting at the earliest in order to make the government more accountable and transparent. “Every major decision taken by the party should be implemented only after its endorsement from the central committee,” the memorandum says.

They have also demanded the formation of a politburo and an end to the practice of making the party secretariat supreme in decision-making.

They have accused the leadership of providing multiple opportunities to the like-minded while ignoring many others in the party who are otherwise competent. They demand transparent decision making and the introduction of criteria for assigning party responsibilities. They are unhappy with the decisions of the secretariat on the appointment of provincial party chiefs and in-charges.

Those submitting the memorandum are leaders from the erstwhile CPN-UML.

Demanding further that the party unification process be concluded without delay, they have suggested assigning the unification task to the provincial and local party committees.

NCP leaders have also accused the top party leadership of curtailing democratic exercise in the parliamentary party meetings. “There is no democratic exercise in the parliamentary party. Each and every meeting of the parliamentary party concludes after imposing the views of a few leaders. How can mistakes and weaknesses be identified if deliberations, reviews and criticism are barred?” the NCP second rung has asked.

Similarly, the NCP leaders have come down heavily on the government for its controversial decisions. They have demanded revoking the appointment of Digambar Jha at Nepal Telecommunications Authority and the withdrawal of the medal conferred on former chief justice Gopal Parajuli. They have not mentioned Jha and Parajuli by name, but they clearly indicated the two individuals while citing the background to the disputed decisions.

They likewise flayed the president and the vice president for seeking more facilities, indicating the recent decisions of the government to provide Police Academy land for expanding the presidential residence and displacing the Social Welfare Council office to make way for the residence of the vice president.

 
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