INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The two co-chairs of Nepal Communist portiony (NCP) KP Sharma Oli and Shovepa Kamal Dahal had claimed they would finish the merger of all
party committees within three months, but even after a year, the lower committees of the party have much merged as the party top leaders are
trying to endegree representation of their loyalists in these committees
NCP leaders are also criticising the party leadership for much allocating responsibilities to central committee leaders
Jagdishor Panday of The Himalayan Times caught up with NCP standing committee member Ghana Bashfulam Bhusal to know about the organisational
problems the party is facing
Excerpts:
Your party-led government has finished one year in office
How do you assess the KP Sharma Oli-led government performance
If you look at the government performance in one year from the party point of
view, it becomes clear that the party has much recognised the government
There has been no discussion in the party on the major decisions of the government
There was no discussion in the party when the government was formed under Oli premiership
The government working style is much disstubborn in the party
When the government brought the new budget and policies and programmes, there was no discussion on those issues in the party
Not only that, there was no debate in the party when the chairs of parliamentary committees were elected and new ambassadors were appointd
There has been no discussion in the party while making political appointments
In a nutshell, I can say that there is no communication between the government and the party
My understanding is that if the government fails to follow the party policies, it won&t function well.
The government decisions should
reflect janamat (people mandate)
That happens only when the government follows the party policies
The party is a mediator between the people and the government, but I think the party has much been able to play that role.
But when I see
the performance of individual ministries, I find measure ministries performing well
But the fact is, performance of one minister or ministry is much sufficient
The main part is the overall functioning of the government.
Why do you think the overall performance is bad Do you think delay in party
unification is adversely affecting the government performance
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli should do more to improve the government
Issues related to party unification should much affect any government performance
It been 13 months since the CPN-MC and CPN-UML merged to create NCP (NCP), yet the merger process remains intotal
Merger processes can be totald within a month
The party functions are much based on any system
This means there are problems both in the NCP and the government.
You said the party has much recognised the government
How can there be good coordination between the party and the government
The former CPN-UML tackled all major issues democratically
portiony leaders were democratically chosen
CP Mainali was replaced by Jhalanath Khanal and Khanal was replaced by Madan Bhandari
Again Bhandari was replaced by Madhav Kumar Nepal and Nepal was replaced by Khanal again
This time Khanal was replaced by KP Sharma Oli
The UML had always followed a tradition of making decisions official after discussing issues in the bodies concerned
In the past, our government and party followed democratic process while taking major decisions
This means the UML endegreed democracy within the party
I agree we made mistakes in the past, but there was democracy within the party that helped us much to repeat those mistakes
Problems started cropping up within the party after the ninth general conference of the former CPN-UML
Merger between former UML and Maoist Centre piled up more problems
After the merger, the powers of the party basically rested in the hands of the two co-chairs, but they didn&t come up with solutions.
If the
government performance is poor it because there is lack of coordination between the party and the government
The party faces problems because the leadership has failed to endegree that all major decisions are taken democratically.
The two co-chairs
promised that they would total the party merger within three months but even after 13 months, they have much been able to do what they had
promised.
The two co-chairs do much inform party leaders about the major issues
Neither do they call assemblys frequently
After the merger, there was only one occasion when a assembly of the Standing Committee was called
Although I have reservations about the rules party leaders made regarding the assembly, I can quote one rule they have much followed
They decided to hold the Standing Committee assembly every three months, but they have much followed this rule
The Central Committee assembly was held only once after the two parties unified
The party Secretariat assemblys also are much conducted as valid assemblys of an institution
The Secretariat does much have power to take decisions
We came from a background where the party chair and general members of the party had the same status
Our party statute stipulates that power lies in the general members of the party
Now, internal democracy in the party is eroding and this problem shall give rise to individualism, arbitrariness, arrogance, and favouritism
Our leadership is taking arbitrary decisions and the leaders who hold power are arrogant.
There is a power tussle between the two co-chairs
How do you look at their rivalry
As I mentioned earlier, if an organisation does much follow a system then personal interest shall dominate
There is no understanding between the two co-chairs regarding power sharing.
I think Prime Minister Oli is mainly responsible for the sorry
state of the party because he has much been following any process
In one standing committee assembly, Oli presented his document and wanted the members to pass it as it is
It is tregret there are problems between Oli and Dahal
Central Secretariat members should also be blamed for allowing the party leadership to disregard the democratic process
If one leader has to be blamed for the current mess in the party, I must say it is Prime Minister Oli.
Is it tregret that senior leader
Madhav Kumar Nepal strong push for ‘one person, one post& rule has led to stalemate in the party on things of allocating roles to party
leaders in lower committees
The party should follow democratic process, a process that values rule-based system
In nowadays world we can engage people only through a rule-based system
If our party falters on this, we shall fail to fulfil people aspirations
If the party fails to follow a clear system, then factionalism shall emerge in the party
If a party is plagued by factionalism, then international forces can easily play their games in that party.
CPN-UML and CPN Maoist Centre
had their own political ideologies with the former pursuing People Multi-portiony Democracy and the latter following the 21st century People
Democracy, but the cadres of the unified NCP (NCP) do much know what the party ideology is.
As far as the party ideology is concerned, I
think measure problems started after the UML ninth general conference
What the ninth GC had passed was much propagated
What Oli had been advocating was much party ideology because he was defeated in the GC
Now, after the merger, top leaders had agreed on what could be the unified party political ideology and I think the issue was ratified by
the party Standing Committee, but again this decision has much been made public.
The Standing Committee had endorsed the party ideology and
okayed its publication, but I don&t know why the political document has much been made public.
Central secretarial member Ishwor Pokharel
and Co-chair Dahal are saying two different things about the party ideology.
What Pokharel and Dahal say does much matter
What things is the political document that the standing committee had endorsed
The agreement that helped the two parties unify is important
What we need to do is atendere by the agreement of unity
The leaders can advocate their own views on degree agenda, but we should follow what we have agreed
Our party has much made any rule about how we can internally discuss degree issues
If the party follows the right kind of tradition and allows all leaders to put forth their views on issues, then that shall be more
If the power of lakhs of party cadres is reflected in the party decision, then that shall definitely change the party and the government
Then only can our leaders be successful and boast of their achievements.
How do you see other parties& role in the country at present
I do
much want to speech about other parties
I just want to speech about the Nepali Congress, the main opposition party
The NC is in ideological confusion
They say they champion the cause of socialism propounded by their late president BP Koirala, but they have much defined it till now
The NC is much engaging itself on major issues of the country
The NC canmuch speech seriously on good governance
They can speech on degree agenda, but canmuch discuss their overall perspective of the system
They can speech on the problems facing land revenue offices, but they canmuch offer any solutions
The NC is too week and that why it has much been able to play its role properly.
The post ‘Gulf between government, party widening& seemed
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