Dahal said at a meeting of the Constitutional Committee (CC) on Wednesday that though the subcommittee is essential to expedite the statute-drafting process, he was unable to continue on the panel due to his busy schedule of party activities and other political business.[break]
Others, however, claimed that the Maoist leader´s reluctance is connected not only with the tasks of the subcommittee but also with the overall statute-drafting process.
Though Dahal claimed at the meeting that he could not give time to the subcommittee despite his willingness to work with it, other members at the CC said it was a reflection of the deepening intra-party feud within the Maoist party.
Maoist leader Dev Gurung said at the same meeting that the decision to form the subcommittee under Dahal´s coordination was contradictory as he was head of the largest political party.
When Dahal proposed former prime minister and CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal to head the subcommittee, the latter pressed him not to evade the responsibility. "If there is a status problem in Dahal heading the subcommittee, it would be the same thing if I head the panel because we both are former prime ministers," one party leader quoted Nepal as saying at the meeting.
CC Chairman Nilambar Acharya had then wrapped up the meeting, saying he would take initiatives to settle the matter through informal talks among the top leaders.
However, his efforts to convene a meeting of top leaders to discuss the matter have yielded no result so far due to busy schedules. "I am trying to convene them and hold discussions to find a solution," Acharya told Republica.
The dispute resolution subcommittee faces a fate similar to that the high-level taskforce formed earlier to resolve contentious issues in constitution writing.
Dahal, under pressure from hardliners within his party, had quit as head of the high-level taskforce even though the body had been effective in settling disputes. The taskforce had settled 130 out of a total 210 controversial points.
Hardline Maoist leaders have accused Dahal of showing unnecessary flexibility and making compromises on one key issue after another.
Later, the parties agreed to form the dispute resolution subcommittee under the CC, which is mandated with preparing the first integrated draft of the new constitution, incorporating all the thematic drafts.
Top leaders from the major political parties are represented on the subcommittee.
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