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Kathmandu Tuesday October 31, 2000 Kartik 15, 2057.
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All's not well in
Congress
The ruling party, which has been deeply
divided into two factions for over a year now, does not appear to have learnt any lesson
so far. The reasons may be many, but the most important one is that a faction governs -
well or not it is for the people to decide - while another faction is critical of the
rulers' performance. This had started from the day the Nepali Congress came to power in
the last elections. This explains why no stone was left unturned to ensure that the
Bhattarai government was made to fall making way for the Koirala government.
That the NC problem encompasses more than
just differences at the top has become clear with the virtual clash between different
groups of workers over active membership of the party. The seeming "solution"
arrived at the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting the other day now seems to have
been no more than mere paper work done with the purpose of silencing the opposition.
There are now complaints that the CWC decisions are either not implemented or, depending
on the place, the decisions have been implemented in twisted forms. All these allegations
are being issued ahead of the party's national convention where the future course of the
party will be charted out and election for its new president will be held. For NC
workers, this is a very significant occasion and those who have worked all their lives for
the cause of the party will no doubt feel cheated if any hanky-panky should take place in
an organisation that prides itself as a "democratic" party.
While the party's internal problems may not
be everyone's business, the fact is that the governing party's problems are reflected in
governance. This makes it every tax payer's problem. The internal squabbling within the
party, for instance, has resulted in poor performance by both the Bhattarai and Koirala
governments. The Maoist problem might have moved much further ahead towards resolution but
for the NC's internal problems. Surely, it is public knowledge that the Maoist insurgents
have expressed their willingness to talk for over a year now. Just to prevent
head of the high powered government committee Sher Bahadur Deuba from stealing the
show, efforts and tax payers' money were allowed to go to waste.
NC workers and leaders may or may not
remember all these things and will probably justify them even if they do remember, but the
general public cannot forget or forgive such blunders. It is therefore in the party's own
interest that the top leaders set the party house right for surely all's not well with the
NC.
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