Baidya faction holds Dahal, PM responsible for CA dissolution

KIRAN PUN KATHMANDU, June 15: At a time when UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai have blamed the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly (CA), the dissident Maoist faction led by the party´s Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya has held the party leadership chiefly responsible for CA dissolution. The Baidya faction accused Dahal, who headed the dispute resolution subcommittee, of revoking the decisions made in the CA thematic committees instead of taking initiatives to frame a “pro-people” constitution.

No unity without course correction of leadership

Baidya rejects Dahal's unity proposal

KIRAN PUN KATHMANDU, June 14: The Maoist Baidya faction has rejected a written unity offer from the Dahal faction and vowed to proceed with its national gathering scheduled for Friday. Dahal had sent Mohan Baidya a seven-point written proposal for party unity on Wednesday morning but the dissident faction termed the proposal a ´farce´, concluding that the proposal was "propaganda" and "conspiracy". With this development, chances of unity in the party are slimmer, leaders said. "Dahal´s proposal is his third farce. His first farce disrupted the peace process by surrendering the PLA while in his second farce dissolved the Constituent Assembly without promulgating a new constitution. This third farce is to break up the party," said Kul Prasad KC, politburo member close to Baidya.

Baidya turns down Dahal's talks offer

KIRAN PUN
KATHMANDU, June 11: UCPN (Maoist) Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya has refused meet Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, arguing there was no point in holding further talks with the party supremo.

Baidya had refused Dahal´s phone request for a meeting on Friday saying he would not sit for talks unless Dahal commits to meet three preconditions. Baidya also said past meeting between the two had not yielded any results.

"We are ready for discussion. But since the chairman has already lost all his credibility, there is no need to hold further discussion. Dahal and his faction has been sowing the seeds of division while talking about party unity," Baidya told Republica over phone.

Dahal tries to lure Baidya's CC members

KIRAN PUN
KATHMANDU, June 10: With the aim of foiling the proposed gathering of Baidya faction, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has started holding secret meetings with party central committee members close to the Baidya faction and those who have not officially sided with either of the factions.

Knowledgeable sources who have attended at least one such meeting told Republica that Dahal´s immediate strategy is to persuade the young and influential central committee members into distancing themselves from the conclave scheduled for June 15 in Kathmandu.

Will the Maoist party split at last?

KIRAN PUN KATHMANDU, June 6: The name of the country´s largest political party is Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), but it might not remain ´unified´ for very much longer, going by recent developments. The history of the UCPN(Maoist) is full of intra-party feuding. But despite all internal tensions at different times, the party has averted a split in the past. However, with rift continuing to dog the country´s largest party, the question now is whether it could again avoid a possible split. The rift this time is not limited to the party´s Central Committee as in the past, but has reached down to the party´s lowest organizational structure - the cell committees.

Dahal faction calls plenum, Baidya national gathering