NATIONAL 3 -(Spotlight Weekly)

No Chairman, For Now

Despite CPN-UML's Central Working Committee's decision, the lust for power continues

By A CORRESPONDENT

Following the restoration of multi-party democracy, no political parties have survived without internal dissensions. Even after the vertical split it underwent two years ago, CPN-UML is still not out of trouble.

One after another, Nepal's major political parties have faced their worst internal differences and some have even split. From Nepali Congress to RPP and CPN-UML and other small communist outfits, all of them went through the pains of dissensions. The process of split and unity in the parties continue.

This was what one witnessed during the recently concluded meeting of CPN-UML. Although the three-day-long central committee meeting of CPN-UML concluded by endorsing the proposal that the post of party Chairman, which was vacated following the demise of Manmohan Adhikary, will continue to be unoccupied.

The post of the party Chairman was created as a ceremonial post after the merging of CPN-ML and CPN-M in 1990. It was offered to then CPN-M general secretary Manmohan Adhikary.

Septuagenarian communist leader Adhikary held the position till his death last year. The post of party Chairman in UML is titular but it has political significance.

At a time when the power struggle between UML general secretary and parliamentary party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and deputy parliamentary leader K.P. Sharma Oli is said to have been heightened, bagging the position of party Chairman by any one of their group would have tilted the balance in their favor.

Despite intense efforts by Nepal and Oli group to capture the party Chairmanship, no one was able to place their own nominee in the position and they unanimously agreed to the position open for the present.

According to the Constitution of the CPN-UML, the general secretary enjoys sweeping power in the party. Party Chairman, though the titular head, tilts the power balance.

"Finally, internal crisis is averted, following the agreement between two factions. This is a good sign for the future of the UML party," said a political analyst.

CPN-UML leaders view the news reports about their internal discussion as no more than a plot of rightist group to discredit progressive forces.

"Our party does not have any faction nor there are any major differences. Some may even wish that our party should involve in such activities," said general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal addressing the press meet.

Nepal's statement, too, seems to be an indicator of the power struggle going within the party. The past experiences have shown that general secretary Nepal still holds the party under his authority.

"As long as CPN-UML has leaders like Nepal, it is virtually impossible for others to oppose him," said a political worker of CPN-UML.

As the country's political parties are still in the process of learning by mistakes, more internal dissension cannot be ruled out in the future. As Congress party is yet to recover from the last elections of the parliamentary party leadership, the recent episode of CPN-UML showed the vulnerability of the bigger national parties to dissension and division.

For the time being, CPN-UML is able to avoid the confrontation but the question remains how long will it preserve the unity.