National
Five members of disbanded merger task force submit report to Oli
Disgruntled by the decision of the Nepal Communist Party’s Secretariat to dissolve the task force formed to complete the remainder work of the unification process, five of the nine members of the task force presented a separate report to NCP Co-chairman and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday night.Tika R Pradhan
Disgruntled by the decision of the Nepal Communist Party’s Secretariat to dissolve the task force formed to complete the remainder work of the unification process, five of the nine members of the task force presented a separate report to NCP Co-chairman and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday night.
“The report includes the recommendations to resolve the outstanding issues concerning the unification process,” Beduram Bhusal, a member of the task force, told the Post on Sunday.
The nine-member task force, led by Ram Bahadur Thapa, was formed after the previous three panels failed to deliver the mandate: completing the remaining tasks of the unification process between the erstwhile CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre). Although the two communist forces formally united in May 2018 to form the NCP, the party has yet to finalise the merger of the committees at local and provincial levels.
The NCP Secretariat meeting on Friday had decided to disband the task force. The meeting had also decided that the Secretariat would prepare its own proposal to complete the remainder work of the unification process and present it to the Standing Committee.
The dissolution of the task force could further complicate the merger process as the KP Sharma Oli and the Madhav Kumar Nepal factions are still at odds over a host of issues, including the “one leader, one position” rule which, the Nepal camp say, was violated by Oli by appointing Shankar Pokhrel, the chief minister of Province 5, and Prithvi Subba, the chief minister of Gandaki Province, the party chief of their respective province.
The disaffected members of the task force say the party Secretariat did not give them enough time to resolve the dispute. The powerful panel was dissolved despite the majority of its members requesting the NCP leadership to extend its mandate period by a week—a proposal supported by four of the nine members of the NCP Secretariat, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Bamdev Gautam.
The task force members, Yogesh Bhattarai, Beduram Bhusal and Surendra Pande, from the Nepal faction, and Lekhraj Bhatta and Barshaman Pun from the erstwhile CPN (Maoist Centre) have also alleged that the task force coordinator, Thapa, and NCP General Secretary Bishnu Poudel did not hold meetings to discuss the contentious issues to see the unification process through, and presented an incomplete report to the party leadership.
“How can anyone resolve problems without holding necessary meetings?” said Bhatta. “In our report, we have suggested the leadership to select members of the party committees on the basis of their contributions to the party.”
After Oli refused to annul the appointments that contravene the “one leader, one position” rule, the task force members from the Nepal camp had proposed increasing the size of the provincial committees to accommodate some senior leaders. But the proposition was not entertained by Oli’s supporters.
The Oli faction had defended the leader’s decision, arguing that Nepal also did not follow the party rules when he was at the party’s helm.
The task force coordinator, Thapa, and member Bishnu Poudel had also sided with Oli on the issue. Oli was also favoured by fellow party Co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Secretariat member Ishwor Pokhrel.