Is Dahal at the end of his tether?

Maoist chairman's threat to quit leadership triggers debate whether he means it

TIKA R PRADHAN

KATHMANDU: Unified CPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has reportedly ‘threatened’ to quit party leadership, stoking debates: Does he genuinely mean it? Is he resorting to ‘emotional blackmail’? Or is he at the end of his rope?

Dahal has remained the unchallenged supremo since the party came into being in 1995.

According to a politburo member close to him, Dahal had told leaders in a meeting with Vice-chairman Mohan Baidhya that he was ready to quit not only the leadership of the parliamentary party but also the chairmanship of the party if that ‘helped the movement, peace, the constitution, country and the people’.

“This statement, I suppose, is not his and might have been cooked up to provoke him. But if this is true, this could prove to be counterproductive. This clearly indicates that the leadership has deviated from the party’s objectives,” said Kul Prasad KC, a politburo member close to Baidhya. “The leaders must not react in a whim; they should rather move ahead by taking differing opinions together.”

The Maoist chairman’s threat follows excessive pressure from his deputies, especially hardliner Baidhya, who has been insistent on changing work division of the party leaders.

The meetings in recent times have failed to find a way out. The standing committee meeting on Sunday was held for less than 15 minutes and Dahal had proposed a central committee meeting for July 13 to sort out the issues. Dahal is said to have a majority in CC. After Baidhya continued to exert pressure on Dahal to quit leadership of the parliamentary party, Dahal had reportedly asked another Vice-chairmen Baburam Bhattarai what the ‘truth’ was.

Standing committee member Giriraj Mani Pokhrel said leadership cannot be created overnight and that it should be protected and promoted.

However, pro-Bhattarai politburo member Ram Karki claimed that the statement proved that Dahal was not serious towards saving the party.

“We have not thought about the alternative of the leadership; we just wanted to correct the tendency to become the totalitarian,” said Karki but added, “There is nothing in this world that does not have an alternative.” Karki was of the opinion that the latest statement from Dahal showed his state of despair. “It seems the chairman wants to make the issue more complicated instead of trying to resolve. But this threat is not going to work this time.”

Politburo member Haribol Gajurel claimed that Dahal had told Baidhya that he would not leave the responsibility as people would accuse him of not being accountable and therefore had urged Baidhya to oust him from the leadership of PP through majority. “Dahal told Baidhya that he was ready to quit not only the PP leadership but also the chairmanship if that was the historical necessity of the party,” said Gajurel. Janardan Sharma, another politburo member close to Dahal, however, said the chairman was in the mood to quit the leadership if he failed to garner majority in PP.

A pro-Bhattarai politburo member put it simply: “Dahal is adept at emotional blackmail, and he will try to get support for his cause during CC meeting through such unrealistic means.”

(Published in The Himalayan Times on July 12, 2011)