Dahal working to get firmer grip on party

KAMAL DEV BHATTARAI

After the hard-line faction led by Mohan Baidya left to form a new party, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who had long been positioning himself between Baidya and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, is preparing to ensure his centrality in his party by preparing a document where he formally owns up the ongoing peace and constitution processes.

Dahal is currently busy preparing the political document by backing the line of peace and constitution originally championed in the party by Bhattarai. Leaders say the party's plenum that begins on July 16 will formally endorse the document and take the ownership of the peace and constitution processes. It will also try to justify that it is not a "revisionist agenda" as said by the newly-formed CPN-Maoist.
Dahal's document, according to political commentator and former Maoist leader Mumaram Khanal, could be read as one of his strategic moves to consolidate his hold over the party. "Dahal now believes that he will gain more power by not mincing words in supporting the line of peace, which he hesitated earlier as he had to appease the hardliners."
Dahal has also proposed centralising powers on the party chairman. He has hinted that the decision to adopt a collective leadership was a mistake and that led to the party to split.
Following the 12-point understanding in 2005 with traditional parliamentary parties that led to the abolishment of the monarchy, the Maoist party saw a divergence of opinions. Baidya was for revising the 12-point understanding and the 2005 Chunwang meet decision to adopt competitive democracy, which Bhattarai firmly endorsed. Dahal, however, was treading the middle path to consolidate his power by appeasing both Bhattarai and Baidya.
In his new document, Dahal states that the journey set by 12-point understanding is right and should be tagged along.
“Dahal's political document says the party must take the leadership and ownership of the peace and constitution writing processes,” said Politburo member Haribol Gajurel. Another leader Agni Sapkota said the document stresses that the line taken by the Chunwang meet was fundamentally correct.