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Kathmandu Sunday March 18, 2001 Chaitra 05, 2057.
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NC factions to battle out at
today’s meeting
Post Report
KATHMANDU, March 17 – A day before the show of
strength in the ruling Nepali Congress (NC), the two factions of the party held separate
meetings today ahead of Sunday’s showdown where they are expected to be on each
others’ throat.
Both the factions are flexing their muscles to
blame each other for the current impasse in the parliament and instability in the
government.
Former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba-led
anti-PM Koirala group held a nearly four-hour-long meeting at Deuba’s contact office
at New Baneshwor. According to Chiranjivi Wagle, prominent dissident leader, the group
would present three arguments at Sunday’s party meeting at the Birendra International
Convention Centre slated to begin at 8 a.m. The primary one is that the faction strongly
opposed the possibility of a mid-term poll now.
Secondly, said Wagle, the current disruption of the
parliament was not due to internal wrangling in the NC. "It is a misleading
propaganda by the press," he said. The last one is that the present instability in
the government was not due to any agreement or lack of it in the party. "Instability
arose when former PM Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was forced to step down," said Wagle.
Both sides have been charging each other as the
cause for the current state of instability. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and his
supporters maintain that the opposition was emboldened by the tacit support of the Deuba
faction and was able to hold the parliament hostage.
On the other hand, Deuba and his supporters feel
that the only way out of the current crisis, emanating from alleged corruption in the
Lauda Air deal, was the PM’s resignation.
In fact, today’s meeting at Deuba’s
office attended by dissident MPs and party leaders was to chalk out a strategy to face the
Koirala faction that is expected to turn the heat on Deuba and his men for their
"non-cooperation".
Similarly, at a meeting at party’s central
office at Teku, the ruling faction led by former NC general secretary Sushil Koirala,
decided to recommend strong action against the dissident camp. According to a participant
in the meeting, the former general secretary would either ask the party gathering to make
the Deuba faction fall in line or take action against them which could be either
suspension or expulsion of a few dissident leaders.
The meeting at the party office that lasted a
little over two hours comprised of some ministers, Central Working Committee members and
many district NC presidents who are known PM supporters.
In yet another crisis-control meeting at Prime
Minister Koirala’s official residence at Baluwatar, three proposals were being
thrashed out to be presented at Sunday’s meeting. One, the ruling faction would ask
the dissidents to propose an alternative to the PM’s resignation if they (the Deuba
group) was against mid-term poll.
There would be an attempt to get a resolution
passed unanimously condemning the opposition’s demand for Koirala’s resignation.
The Koirala camp is also likely to criticize the Deuba faction for bringing a
no-confidence proposal against the PM based on the alleged complicity in the Lauda Air
deal. They are of the view that it was this development that started the current chain of
events that has resulted in the disruption in the parliament and the opposition’s
vociferous demand for PM’s resignation.
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