National
Fourth NCP task force faces dissolution
With no headway in remaining tasks of the unification process, the fourth powerful task force formed by the ruling Nepal Communist Party is on the verge of dissolution.Tika R Pradhan
With no headway in remaining tasks of the unification process, the fourth powerful task force formed by the ruling Nepal Communist Party is on the verge of dissolution.
The unification process of the ruling party has been affected due to differences between the factions in the party—one led by Co-chairman KP Oli and the other by senior leader Madhav Nepal.
The Ram Bahadur Thapa-led task force, which was told to submit its report, has sought more time to complete its assigned tasks.
Addressing a function at Dhading on Saturday, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, another co-chair of the party, said the two top leaders [Dahal and Oli] were in favour of the party Secretariat finalising the remaining tasks of the unification process and presenting the proposal to the upcoming Standing Committee meeting.
“The task force has submitted a unanimous report to the Secretariat. We will present a proposal based on the report to the Standing Committee and complete the unification soon,” Dahal said, hinting that the task force would be dissolved.
After the February 4 Secretariat meeting, party spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha had told reporters that they had decided to direct the task force to present its report to the Secretariat with the progress made so far. “The Secretariat will then prepare a proposal and present it to the Standing Committee,” Shrestha said.
After the Thapa-led fourth task force formed by the latest Standing Committee meeting failed to move ahead due to their differences with two chairpersons, the panel’s latest meeting on February 6 had decided to seek more time to complete its work.
The last meeting of the panel had entrusted its coordinator Thapa and a member, Beduram Bhusal, with the task of preparing the report to present it to Standing Committee.
Bhusal, however, said he was not aware what Thapa was doing. “Thapa had said he would inform me after completing the report,” Bhusal told the Post.
The Secretariat meeting is expected to discuss a host of issues, including the report presented by the Thapa-led nine-member task force.
Alleging that Thapa’s panel failed to make any headway, the last Secretariat meeting on February 4 had decided to direct the panel to present its report with progress made so far.
Leaders in the Secretariat were in favour of finalising the remaining tasks of unification of the party committees as per the Standing Committee’s direction and present the proposal to the upcoming Standing Committee meeting.
However, the Secretariat’s latest decision has irked the task force members who claim that the panel was formed by the Standing Committee and the Secretariat did not have authority to dissolve it.
Accusing the leadership of obstructing the panel’s work, the task force members have been calling on it to allow them to take necessary decisions.
Asked about the differences within the task force, Bhusal claimed that the panel had not started discussion on issues other than provincial committees. “How can you expect results regarding the issues on which the panel has not yet started discussions,” he said. “But the panel got stuck after leaders rejected its decision regarding provincial committees.”
The panel’s meetings were disrupted after the chairpersons rejected its proposal to increase the membership in the provincial committees by another 10 percent. But the two top leaders claimed that all the provincial committees had started functioning after they were administered oath.
The panel’s latest meeting, which was held after the Secretariat’s direction, had sought more time to discuss the remaining issues of the unification process while presenting the differences on provincial committees.
The ruling party is yet to finalise its district committees-one of the most contentious issues among the party’s subordinate bodies.
Except for a few of its members, leaders of the party’s central committee have been ‘jobless’ while Prime Minister Oli has been complaining that the party’s rank and file did not bother to defend his government’s activities.
The panel, which enjoys the authority also to finalise the work division for the central members and propose the leaders to be included in the party’s politburo, is on the verge of dissolution due to the differences between its members and party chairpersons, especially with Oli.
However, the two chairpersons were scheduled to meet on Saturday to make preparations for the next Secretariat meeting. They are expected to chart out strategy regarding the fate of the Thapa-led panel.
Some party insiders believe that Oli had agreed on forming the panel out of compulsion and therefore would press for its dissolution.
Party spokesperson Shrestha said the secretariat would decide only after studying its report.