Kathmandu, May 23
The CPN-Maoist Centre is continuing its central committee meeting on Monday, in a bid to thrash out issues related to the party’s organisational structure. On Sunday, the party had postponed the CC meeting till 1 pm on Monday after failing to agree on the structure.
Dinanath Sharma, leader of the party, said Sunday’s meeting could not take a final call on the management of office-bearers. He said the proposed organisational structures will be presented today.
The interim statute proposed for the party’s unity convention has proposed creating positions like president, vice-president, general secretary, joint-secretary and treasurer.
However, some leaders have proposed downsizing the team of office-bearers by making Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ president and giving other leaders berths in the central committee. There are still differences on who should be the second person after Prachanda in the party hierarchy.
Selection of office-bearers has made no headway with the party in a dispute on who should be the senior leader after Prachanda — Narayankaji Shreestha or Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’.
The Shrestha camp points Shrestha has already worked as vice-president of a committee that also included Badal, so Shrestha should get the senior leader’s position.
But the Badal camp, Mani Thapa and Matrika Yadav point that Badal is senior to Shrestha in terms of his involvement in political movements. Besides, there’s a need to placate forces that have joined the UCPN-Maoist and given the party a new name, they say and stress the need to make Badal the senior leader.
With some leaders from the UCPN-Maoist siding with Badal, Prachanda is in a dilemma. He is discussing the possibility of making both Badal and Shrestha senior vice-president.
