KIRAN PUN
KATHMANDU, Jan 28: UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said on Friday that there is only a 50/50 chance of promulgating the new constitution because of growing differences between the parliamentary parties and the Maoists.
Addressing a close-door meeting of the party cadres at an orientation organized by the Maoist Tharuwan, Bheri-Karnali and Seti-Mahakali state committees at Chisapani, Dahal, who is also coordinator of the dispute resolution sub-committee under the constitutional committee (CC), said that “chances of confrontation are high as the parliamentary parties [Nepali Congress and CPN (UML)] will not accept our wish for a ‘pro-people’ constitution and we are not at all ready to accept another parliamentary constitution”.“If the parliamentary parties pose serious obstructions to out goal of bringing in a pro-people constitution then the entire constituting-writing process will derail, leaving no option for us but to go for a people’s revolt,” a participant quoted Dahal as saying.
Dahal also accused the parliamentary parties of not accepting the change that the people of this country wish to see. “Leaders of the parliamentary parties have not yet accepted major changes in our political system like state restructuring and a proportional electoral system,” a party central committee member quoted Dahal as saying.
Chairman Dahal also accused the parliamentary parties of acting against the spirit of the peace process and said they were putting up one obstacle after another over the issue of rank harmonization for the 6,500 PLA that are to integrate into the Nepal Army.
They were dismissing the Maoist claim that the PLA should get higher ranks in the proposed directorate as per the numbers they are contributing to the directorate, he said. “We have said that since the number of PLA to be integrated is enough to form a brigade, the PLA should be given a higher post in the directorate,” he was quoted as saying.
Dahal also lambasted the parliamentary parties for teaming up into an anti-Maoist front and warned that such a move can completely derail the ongoing peace and constitution-writing process.
He likewise alleged that the parties had been making all-out efforts to split the Maoists. He repeated the accusation that Nepali Congress Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel, former UN under secretary-general Kul Chandra Gautam, CC Chairman Nilambar Acharya and journalist Kanak Mani Dixit were hatching conspiracies to split the UCPN (Maoist). He had mentiuoned those names earlier at a cadre orientation in the capital.
Similarly, addressing the same meeting, Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya said that there was a greater urgency in saving the national interest than completing the task of writing a constitution. He said that a serious deviation by leaders from the ‘proletariat values’ had emerged as the biggest hurdle in genuine party unity.
“We reiterated unity after the Kharipati and Palungtar meetings, where they merged Dahal’s and Baidya’s political documents into one, but that did not bear fruit. If we do not become serious about implemention, it will be a repeat of the same thing,” another participant quoted Baidya as saying.
Similarly, at the same meeting, Prime Minister and party Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai urged the party leaders and cadres to work to make the current government a true government of the party rather than a government that represents a faction of the party.
PM Bhattarai also accused the media of carrying baseless news reports about widening differences between himself and Chairman Dahal. “The reactionary forces are afraid of Maoist party unity” yet another participant quoted Bhattarai as saying.
Party didn’t pressure govt to legalize land deals: Dahal
NEPALGUNJ (REPUBLICA): Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said on Friday that the Baburam Bhattarai-led government had not consulted the party before taking the decision to legalize conflict-era land transactions that took place under the arbitration of the Maoist ‘people’s government’.
Expressing concern over media reports that the party pressured the government to legalize the transactions, Dahal claimed that he became aware of the matter only after the cabinet took such a decision. “I learnt about the decision through the media,” Dahal told journalists in Banke.
“The cabinet took the decision on its own to legalize the land transactions and the party did not exert any pressure in that regard.” Dahal’s clarification over the controversial cabinet decision comes amidst media reports that the government took the decision under party pressure.
In another context, Dahal said that the parties have been holding talks on forming a national consensus government but have not reached agreement on who should lead such a government.
from REPUBLICA English daily news paper
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